This wrinkle ridge is located within the crater Brisbane Z, at 52.72°S, 73.13°E. Brisbane Z is a mare-flooded crater within Mare Australe. Wrinkle ridges are one of several styles of tectonic deformation present on the Moon, and occur primarily in the maria. Wrinkle ridges are the result of contractional forces, and in the maria, these forces are believed to be from the weight of the basalts extruded onto the surface. The same reasoning explains why wrinkle ridges are sometimes found in mare-flooded craters, where similar contractional forces are present at a smaller scale.
The dramatic wrinkles and folds of this ridge give a sense of the strong forces that shaped this area, disrupting the once-smooth mare surface. In the context image above you can see that this is just the tail of a wrinkle ridge that spans tens of kilometers, crossing over half of Brisbane Z's floor.
Check out more of the wrinkle ridge in the full NAC image!
Related Posts: Wrinkle ridge in Oceanus Procellarum, Wrinkle ridges of northwest Mare Imbrium, Bright ridge near Mons Hansteen
Published by Drew Enns on 14 April 2011