Mercury's Violent Volcanoes Shut Off 3.5 Billion Years Ago

Violent volcano eruptions that shaped Mercury's sun-scorched surface likely ended 3.5 billion years ago, which is strikingly early compared to the volcanic history of other terrestrial planets like Venus, Mars and Earth. This discovery will help astronomers better understand the geological history of Mercury and what happens after volcanic activity ends on a planet, researchers said in a statement. "These new results validate 40-year-old predictions about global cooling and contraction [of Mercu