Discovery 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 approximately long and high, located at latitude 56.3 S and longitude 38.3 W. It was formed by 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 ...
, thought to have occurred due to the shrinkage of the planet's
core
Core or cores may refer to:
Science and technology
* Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages
* Core (laboratory), a highly specialized shared research resource
* Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding
* Core (optical fiber ...
as it cooled over time. The scarp cuts through
Rameau crater. It was discovered by ''
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.
''Marin ...
''.
The rupes are named after , the ship used by explorer
James Cook
Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...
on his
third voyage.
File:Discovery Rupes.jpg, Discovery Rupes photographed during first ''Mariner 10'' fly-by in 1974
File:Discovery Rupes EN0242804716M.jpg, The scarp imaged by 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 ...
in 2012
File:Rupes Discovery schematic.jpg, Representation of the thrust fault at Discovery Rupes
See also
*
List of escarpments
A list of escarpments follows below.
Planets Earth
Africa
* Elgeyo Escarpment (Kenyan Rift Valley, Great Rift Valley)
* Great Escarpment, Southern Africa
**Including the Drakensberg and God's Window in Mpumalanga's Eastern Escarpment
* Bandiag ...
References
*
Scarps on Mercury
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