NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Ridge and Trough System on Mercury

This image shows wrinkle ridges, which formed when the volcanic plains were pushed together and buckled, encircling a network of troughs or graben, which formed when the volcanic plains were stretched and pulled apart. The wrinkle-ridge ring, about 100 km in diameter, is formed over the rim of a ghost crater, an impact crater that was flooded and buried by lava flows. Read the full Mission News story for more details about a recently published scientific study of these unusual tectonic landforms.

Release Date: November 16, 2012

Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington