Definition
Narrow, linear to arcuate feature in plain view that occurs on silicate bodies (e.g., Mars, Mercury) thought to have experienced local-, regional-, or global-scale contraction. High-relief ridges are likely a morphological variant of lobate scarps, which are interpreted to be the surface expressions of reverse faulting.
Description
Up to hundreds of kilometers long, are positive-relief landforms that deform surface units as well as the walls and floors of impact craters (Watters et al. 2009 and references therein). Rare in comparison with lobate scarps, high-relief ridges often show a transition with them (Fig. 1), suggesting that high-relief ridges and lobate scarps are similar expressions of the same process (Head et al. 2007; Watters et al. 2009; Watters and Nimmo 2010; Byrne et al. 2014).
Six hundred-km-long high-relief ridge on Mercury. To the north, the ridge transitions into a lobate scarp....
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References
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Massironi, M., Byrne, P.K. (2014). High-Relief Ridge. In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_185-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9213-9_185-1
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