Resolution Rupes is an escarpment on

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

approximately 190 kilometers long located in the southern hemisphere of Mercury. Discovered by the ''

Mariner 10 ''Mariner 10'' was an American Robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe launched by NASA on 3 November 1973, to fly by the planets Mercury (planet), Mercury and Venus. It was the first spacecraft to perform flybys of multiple planets. ''Ma ...

'' spacecraft in 1974, it was formed by a thrust fault, thought to have occurred due to the shrinkage of the planet's core as it cooled over time. Resolution Rupes has an arcuate shape with the scarp face on convex side of the arc. It has a relief of about 0.9 km and is situated between

Adventure Rupes Adventure Rupes is an escarpment on Mercury approximately long located in the southern hemisphere of Mercury. Discovered by the ''Mariner 10'' spacecraft in 1974, it was formed by a thrust fault, thought to have occurred due to the shrinkage of ...

and

Discovery Rupes Discovery Rupes is an escarpment on Mercury approximately long and high, located at latitude 56.3 S and longitude 38.3 W. It was formed by a thrust fault, thought to have occurred due to the shrinkage of the planet's core as it cooled over ti ...

. These three scarps lie on a large arc extending for more than 1000 km. Resolution Rupes is separated from Adventure Rupes by a high relief ridge informally called ''Rabelais Dorsum'', which crosscuts the scarps. This means that Resolution Rupes and Adventure Rupes may be parts of one large structure similar in length to Discovery Rupes. The scarp is named after HMS ''Resolution'', one of

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

's ships on his second voyage to the Pacific, 1772–1775.

References

Scarps on Mercury {{Mercury-planet-stub