Lab-Baked Mercury Rocks Reveal Sulfur's Big Role in Planetary Chemistry

Researchers at Rice University used the Indarch meteorite to create Mercury-analog rocks in a lab, exposing how sulfur shapes Mercury’s crust and magmatic history. By simulating Mercury-like temperatures and pressures, they found sulfur replaces oxygen’s usual bonding partners on Earth, binding with elements like magnesium and calcium instead of iron, which weakens silicate structures and may prolong magmatic activity. The work, published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, offers a new approach to understanding Mercury’s unique, sulfur-rich surface chemistry without direct samples from the planet.