Volcanism on Mercury



Image taken from www.astro.umd.edu/people/ ostriker.html
Mercury, the closest planet to the sun, is a small planet.  Since it is so close to the sun, it is rather hard to study.  This leads to some rather indeterminate conclusions.  There are many features on Mercury which suggest volcanism, although there is controversy as to how definitive these features are.  There are domes, cones, and shield volcanoes.  The craters on Mercury help determine the existence of volcanism.  It is because they are of such similar size, and separated by basically featureless plains.  These could have been produced by volcanic resurfacing.  Currently, Mercury is volcanically extinct.
Image taken from www.astro.umd.edu/people/ ostriker.html






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