scarps

Definition

Steep slopes or cliffs formed by the movement of rock along a fault line.

Etymology

Derived from the Italian word 'scarpa', meaning 'shoe' or 'escarpment,' which likely reflects the shape of the slope resembling the back of a shoe.

In the news

The article uses the term to describe the long, curved cliffs created on Mercury's surface as its interior cooled and the crust contracted. These features serve as physical evidence of the planet's long-term geological shrinking.

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

Space Daily

Related words