A common tectonic feature found on Mercury is a scarp, or steep cliff, such as the one extending across the length of this image. Though common on Mercury, long, globally distributed scarps like this are not common on the other planets in the solar system. It is believed that the scarps formed due to Mercury's thermal history. This image was acquired by the MESSENGER spacecraft as a high-resolution targeted observation on December 31, 2011.

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1207843

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NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

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