As the planet closest to the Sun, Mercury has it rough. Not only is it the smallest planet in our solar system, but Mercury’s crust is also fractured and sheared in several places. There are also craters across the entire surface of the little planet. The origins of these shearing cliffs and craters have always enthralled scientists, but now we may finally know where they came from.
According to a new paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, a group of scientists believe that Mercury’s surface may have been shaped by what we call “tidal stresses.” These forces have been largely overlooked in the past, as they were often considered too small to play any significant role in shaping a planet’s surface.
And while these tidal stresses aren’t likely the main cause behind the way Mercury’s crust has twisted and sheared over the centuries, it is considered an important factor in how the planet was shaped.
Because of its close proximity to the Sun, Mercury has been the victim of our star’s gravitational forces for quite some time now. These extreme forces have led to some intriguing designs across the surface of the planet. There is also no atmosphere, most likely stripped away by the sheer force of the Sun’s energy slamming against the planet.
The researchers looked at how the Sun’s gravitational pull could have affected Mercury’s crust over the past several billion years. To do this, they relied on simulations, which helped show how the gravitational pull from our solar system’s star could have created tension on the planet, causing its surface to take the shape we see today. It’s an intriguing development that could help us learn more about our star’s closest neighbor.
The findings here could also be applied to other planets, too, to help us understand how Earth formed, or even how other planets like Jupiter, Venus, and Mars came to be. The scientists behind the research are hoping to dig deeper into the research using data from BepiColombo, a 2018 mission that will study the surface of Mercury more closely.
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