AI Summary

Mercury’s landscape is scarred with craters, ridges and steep cliffs that record its long‑term geological activity. Researchers note that as the planet’s interior cooled over billions of years, the resulting contraction caused the rocky surface to wrinkle and fold, forming the observed ridges and cliffs. The process is likened to the skin of a drying fruit pulling inward as its interior shrinks. This cooling‑driven shrinkage means Mercury has literally become smaller as it ages.

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