What is a scarp on a planet?
The most widely accepted model of the origin of these faults and scarps is that they are essentially wrinkles that formed on Mercury’s surface as the planet’s heart cooled over time, leading Mercury to shrink in size.
What is a lobate scarp?
Lobate scarps are long, curvilinear structures found on some planetary bodies. They are interpreted to be tectonic in nature, the result of a thrust fault developed in rocks that are otherwise structurally sound.
Is there a crack in the middle of the moon?
Is the moon all it’s cracked up to be? Yes — and then some. New analysis of the lunar surface reveals that it’s far more fractured than once thought.
What caused Mercury’s cliffs?
The surface of Mercury has landforms that indicate its crust may have contracted. They are long, sinuous cliffs called lobate scarps. These scarps appear to be the surface expression of thrust faults, where the crust is broken along an inclined plane and pushed upward.
What is a scarp quizlet astronomy?
Scarps are long cliffs on mercury’s surface. Create after lava on mercury cooled and after it cooled, mercury’s crust contracted to form scarps. It is believed that an impact removed much of mercury’s rocky mantle.
Where are scarps found?
Gambaga Scarp, line of cliffs along the Volta River basin, northeastern Ghana, western Africa. The scarp forms the elevated northern boundary of the Volta River basin and the eastern section of the granite plateaus of Wa and Mamprusi.
Are scarps found on the Moon?
Many of the previously undetected fault scarps are located at high lunar latitudes and some have been found near the lunar poles. 1 Lunar scarps found well outside the equatorial zone indicate that they are globally distributed.
What would happen if the Moon split in half?
But would the other half start to drift away? If the two halves can escape each other’s gravity over millions and possibly billions of years, the Moon chunks would become spherical again, sculpted over time by gravity. The Earth could be left with two smaller Moons, making Star Wars fans everywhere rejoice.
What is lunar maria made out of?
basalt
Samples of lunar rock and soil brought back by Apollo astronauts proved that the maria are composed of basalt formed from surface lava flows that later congealed.
Does Moon have scarps?
Over recent geologic time, as the lunar interior cooled and contracted the entire Moon shrank by about 100 m. As a result its brittle crust ruptured and thrust faults (compression) formed distinctive landforms known as lobate scarps.
What is surface of Mercury?
Mercury’s surface resembles that of Earth’s Moon, scarred by many impact craters resulting from collisions with meteoroids and comets. Craters and features on Mercury are named after famous deceased artists, musicians, or authors, including children’s author Dr.
What is a scarp How are scarps thought to have formed Why do scientists think that the scarps on Mercury formed after most meteoritic bombardment ended?
Why do scientists think that the scarps on Mercury formed after most meteoritic bombardment ended? Scarp is a surface feature on Mercury thought to be the result of cooling and shrinking of the crust forming a wrinkle on the face of the planet. If a meteor hits a planet, it heats up and cools off forming a scarp.