sputter

sputter
 v.— «A thin gas of electrically charged particles called a plasma, the solar wind blows constantly from the surface of the sun at some 250 to 370 miles per second (about 400 to 600 kilometers/second).  According to Slavin, that’s fast enough to blast off the surface of Mercury through a process called “sputtering”, according to Slavin.  Some sputtered atoms stay close enough to the surface to serve as a tenuous yet measurable atmosphere.» —“How Magnetic Tornadoes Might Regenerate Mercury’s Atmosphere” by Brian Ventrudo Universe Today June 3, 20009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)