We know that Mercury's surface is heavily tectonized, but we don't always get to see features like lobate scarps up close. This example, located within a smooth plains deposit near the equator, has a total length of about 120 km (75 miles) but is only on the order of a couple of hundred meters in relief. Numerous impact craters dot the scene, including some that superpose the scarp face itself.

This image was acquired as a high-resolution targeted observation. Targeted observations are images of a small area on Mercury's surface at resolutions much higher than the 200-meter/pixel morphology base map. It is not possible to cover all of Mercury's surface at this high resolution, but typically several areas of high scientific interest are imaged in this mode each week.

Date acquired: August 01, 2014
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 49201446
Image ID: 6790688
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 4.5°
Center Longitude: 76.9° E
Resolution: 21 meters/pixel
Scale: The left-to-right field of view in this image is about 21.4 km (13.3 miles) across
Incidence Angle: 76.3°
Emission Angle: 1.3°
Phase Angle: 74.9°
North is up in this image.

The MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. During the first two years of orbital operations, MESSENGER acquired over 150,000 images and extensive other data sets. MESSENGER is capable of continuing orbital operations until early 2015.

For information regarding the use of images, see the MESSENGER image use policy.