Beagle Rupes is an

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

on Mercury, one of the highest and longest yet seen. It was discovered in 2008 when ''

MESSENGER Messenger, Messengers, The Messenger or The Messengers may refer to: People * Courier, a person or company that delivers messages, packages, or mail * Messenger (surname) * Bicycle messenger, a bicyclist who transports packages through cities * M ...

'' made its first flyby of the planet. It has an arcuate shape and is about long. The scarp is a surface manifestation of a

thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. I ...

, which formed when the planet contracted as its interior cooled. Beagle Rupes consists of three segments. The central segment trends in the north–south direction and crosscuts the elliptically shaped Sveinsdóttir crater. The dimensions of the latter are . The floor of Sveinsdóttir was flooded by the smooth plains material and deformed by

wrinkle-ridge A wrinkle ridge is a type of feature commonly found on lunar maria, or basalt plains. These features are low, sinuous ridges formed on the mare surface that can extend for up to several hundred kilometers. Wrinkle ridges are tectonic features c ...

s before the appearance of Beagle Rupes. The maximum relief within the crater is about . To the south of Sveinsdóttir the scarp turns to the southeast. A crater is superposed on this segment. To the north of Sveinsdóttir the scarp turns to northeast completing a large arc. This segment of Beagle Rupes crosscuts and deforms a small crater. The relief in this places reaches . The scarp appears to be a young feature, which postdates the emplacement of the smooth plans and formation of the majority of impact craters. Beagle Rupes is named after HMS ''Beagle'', a ship made famous through association with

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

References

Scarps on Mercury {{Mercury-planet-stub

See also

References