lobate
LOH-bayt
Definition
Having lobes or shaped like a rounded, projecting section; in planetary geology, describing cliffs or escarpments formed by thrust faults that create a scalloped or curved edge.
Etymology
Derived from the Latin 'lobus', meaning 'a rounded projection', and the suffix '-ate', which indicates possessing or being shaped like something.
In the news
The article uses the term to describe the structural shape of the cliffs formed on Mercury's surface as the planet cooled and shrank. These features are specifically identified as lobate scarps.
Mercury is the Solar System’s smallest planet, but its metallic core fills about 85 per cent of its radius, leaving a rocky shell so thin that cooling has crumpled the surface into cliffs hundreds of kilometres long
Read the full article ↗Space Daily