Mercury is shrinking
For many years, scientists believed that Earth was the only tectonically active planet in the solar system. That changed after the MESSENGER spacecraft did the first orbital mission at Mercury, mapping the planet in high definition.
In 2016, data from the spacecraft revealed cliff-like landforms known as fault scarps. The large scarps were formed as Mercury’s interior cooled, causing the planet to contract and the crust to break and thrust upward along faults making cliffs.
Scientists believe that these scarps are geologically young, which means Mercury is still contracting 4.5 billion years after the solar system was formed.
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