Structure
Structural features are sparse or unresolved in this part of Mercury. The Kuiper quadrangle apparently has none of the scarps that occur elsewhere on the planet that have been interpreted as high-angle reverse faults. The most prominent structures are the rings associated with some large craters or basins, faults that transect crater floors, and lobate scarps and ridges in the plains materials. Most of the faults and scarps that transect crater floors clearly delineate crater-filling materials standing at different levels, and in at least two craters (19° S., 31°; 16° N., 30°), the traces of the faults on the crater walls indicate that the faults have normal displacements. A few faults cut intercrater areas and trend generally northwest or northeast (Scott and others, 1976).
Ridges are broader than many lunar mare ridges and are confined largely to the cratered plains materials. Antoniadi Dorsum, which is a well-developed broad ridge north of the Kuiper quadrangle, is less well developed at its south end and appears in this quadrangle as an irregular scarp. A number of linear depressions superficially resemble grabens but are chains of overlapping secondary craters, for example, Goldstone Vallis (15° S., 32°) and Haystack Vallis (5° N., 46°).
Read more about this topic: Kuiper Quadrangle
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