The experimental results on the fusion of the heavier rare gases at very high pressures, obtained in the last 20 years, are examined and analysed in conjunction with the measurements made at lower pressures from 1940 onwards. The parameters in the Simon equation for the melting curves of Xe, Kr, and Ar are determined, and the coordinates of a possible high-pressure {s(fcc) + s(hcp) + l} triple-point are identified for each one of these three elements. The enthalpies of transition of the transformations involved are estimated as well as their respective values of the entropies of transition. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.