Stratigraphic relationships in today's Featured Image tell a story of complex geologic events on the lunar surface. Planetary geologists interpret images taken from orbit and piece together a narrative. Initially a bolide impacted the lunar surface, creating a crater. Subsequently mare basalt flows buried parts of the impact crater. In the above image you can see darker material around the edges of the crater's rim and also areas where mare basalt material covered parts of the rim and the crater interior. Finally, tectonic deformation created a wrinkle ridge which is better seen in the context image and topography below. Boulders from the wrinkle ridge fell into the impact crater where the edge of the wrinkle ridge intersects with the crater's rim (upper right hand corner of the Featured Image). This impact crater has seen better days!
This region is located south of the crater Brayley D at the edge of Mare Imbrium. The crater in the Featured Image is ~2 km in diameter, and ~250 m deep (located at 18.240°N, 327.06°E). The wrinkle ridge is easier to see in the colorized topo image below. It extends from east to west across the mare.
Explore the entire NAC frame to see more of the wrinkle ridge and surrounding mare!
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Published by Sarah Braden on 6 March 2013