re: Massive solar tides
I don't see why the earth should have any influence at all...perhaps you misremember.
I did look up Mercury's rotation period = 58.65 (earth) days
and it's revolutionary period = 87.99 (earth) days
So Mercury's rotation:revolution is 2:3. It has two of its sidereal days every three of its sidereal years. Why this should be so I don't know, I can see solar tidal influence being a possibility, but not the integral resonance relationship.
At any rate, it suggests we can't rule out weird day/year combinations for this new planet, and consequently, massive tidal tidal events or tide-generated seismic and tectonic activity.
