Rupes (scarps)

E100919

Rupes (scarps) on Mercury are long, cliff-like tectonic features formed by the planet’s crust contracting and thrusting over itself as it cooled.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Rupes (scarps) canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf geological feature of Mercury
planetary scarp
tectonic landform
affect Mercury’s highlands and lowlands alike
areCatalogedBy Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature
surface form: USGS planetary nomenclature program
areKeyEvidenceFor planet-wide contraction of Mercury
thermal evolution of Mercury
areNamedFeatureTypeIn planetary nomenclature for Mercury
areStudiedInDiscipline planetary geology
tectonophysics
contrastWith impact craters on Mercury
volcanic vents on Mercury
contributeTo Mercury’s global topographic relief
crossCut older impact craters
distribution widespread over Mercury’s surface
faultType low-angle thrust fault
formedAfter solidification of Mercury’s lithosphere
formedBy compression of Mercury’s crust
cooling of Mercury’s interior
planetary contraction
formedDuring global contractional phase of Mercury
hasGeologicalOrigin thrust faulting
hasMaximumHeight up to about 3 kilometers
hasMaximumLength hundreds of kilometers
hasMorphology long cliff-like feature
hasTypicalHeight hundreds of meters
hasTypicalLength tens of kilometers
haveRepresentativeExample Beagle Rupes
Discovery Rupes
Enterprise Rupes
Santa Maria Rupes
Victoria Rupes
indicate Mercury’s radius decreased over time
global cooling of Mercury
thick, strong lithosphere on Mercury
locatedOn Mercury
mappedUsing laser altimetry
orbital imaging
nameLanguageOrigin Latin word "rupes" meaning cliff
observedBy MESSENGER
surface form: MESSENGER spacecraft

Mariner 10
surface form: Mariner 10 spacecraft
orientation varied, not confined to a single global pattern
surfaceAge mostly Late Heavy Bombardment or younger
surfaceExpressionOf lobate thrust faults
surfaceProcessType endogenic process
tectonicStyle compressional tectonics
youngerThan most large impact basins on Mercury

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Mercury surfaceFeature Rupes (scarps)