Get a daily digest of the latest news in tech, science, and technology, delivered right to your mailbox. Subscribe now.Since NASA's Mariner 10 mission arrived at Mercury in the 1970s, planetary scientists have been aware of the planet's shrinkage.
The latest findings indicate that Mercury experienced relatively recent contraction activity. In geological terms, this activity occurred about 300 million years ago, suggesting that Mercury might still be undergoing shrinkage.When Mercury formed some 4.6 billion years ago, it initially possessed a significant amount of internal heat due to the intense energy generated during its birth.
As the Mariner 10 spacecraft orbited the planet, it documented scarp surface features caused by the planet's contraction.Through an analysis of its data and images, the team identified a new geological feature known as "graben" that formed on scarps.These grabens are tiny cracks seen on particular scarps that indicate the planet's shrinking. The grabens have dimensions of less than one kilometer in width and a depth of some 100 meters or less.
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Source: IntEngineering - 🏆 287. / 63 Read more »
Source: IntEngineering - 🏆 287. / 63 Read more »
Source: IntEngineering - 🏆 287. / 63 Read more »