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We study what effect a possible surface conductivity of Mercury has on\udthe closure of magnetospheric currents by making six runs with a\udquasi-neutral hybrid simulation. The runs are otherwise identical but\uduse different synthetic conductivity models: run 1 has a fully\udconducting planet, run 2 has a poorly conducting planet (\ud<IMG WIDTH="87" HEIGHT="16" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0"\ud   src="ag-22-1829-img1.gif"  \ud ALT="$sigma{=}10^{-8} Omega^{-1}$"> m<IMG WIDTH="20" HEIGHT="18" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0"\ud   src="ag-22-1829-img2.gif"  \ud ALT="$^{-1}$">) and runs 3-6 have one of the\udhemispheres either in the dawn-dusk or day-night directions,\udconducting well, the other one being conducting poorly. Although the\udsurface conductivity is not known from observations, educated guesses\udeasily give such conductivity values that magnetospheric currents may\udclose partly within the planet, and as the conductivity depends heavily\udon the mineral composition of the surface, the possibility of\udsignificant horizontal variations cannot be easily excluded. The\udsimulation results show that strong horizontal variations may produce\udmodest magnetospheric asymmetries. Beyond the hybrid simulation, we\udalso briefly discuss the possibility that in the nightside there may\udbe a lack of surface electrons to carry downward current, which may act\udas a further source of surface-related magnetospheric asymmetry.   <b>Key words.</b> Magnetospheric physics (planetary magnetospheres;\udcurrent systems; solar wind-magnetosphere interactions).

Surface conductivity of Mercury provides current closure and may affect magnetospheric symmetry