Instruments: Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Latitude: 79°
Longitude: 118° E
Scale: The ridge is approximately 140 kilometers (87 miles) long

Of Interest: This image mosaic shows an unnamed ridge in the northern volcanic plains of Mercury. Wrinkle ridges like this are interpreted to be tectonic in origin and are usually only found in volcanic plains. Six individual MDIS images are part of this mosaic.

The MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. In the mission's more than four years of orbital operations, MESSENGER has acquired over 250,000 images and extensive other data sets. MESSENGER's highly successful orbital mission is about to come to an end, as the spacecraft runs out of propellant and the force of solar gravity causes it to impact the surface of Mercury in April 2015.

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

For information regarding the use of MESSENGER images, see the image use policy.