Raditladi Basin
The blue arrows indicate Raditladi's concentric troughs
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| Planet | Mercury |
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| Coordinates | 27°17′N 240°56′W / 27.28°N 240.93°WCoordinates: 27°17′N 240°56′W / 27.28°N 240.93°W |
| Diameter | 263 km |
| Eponym | Leetile Disang Raditladi |
Raditladi Basin is a large peak ring impact crater on Mercury with a diameter of 263 km. Inside its peak ring there is a system of concentric extensional troughs (graben), which are rare surface features on Mercury. The floor of Raditladi is partially covered by relatively light smooth plains, which are thought to be a product of the effusive volcanism. The troughs may also have resulted from volcanic processes under the floor of Raditladi. The basin is relatively young—probably younger than one billion years, with only a few small impact craters on its floor and with well-preserved basin walls and peak-ring structure.
During its first flyby of Mercury in January 2008 MESSENGER spacecraft discovered a large impact crater approximately 2000 km west of the Caloris basin on the part of Mercury's surface previously not seen by spacecraft. This crater (or basin) was subsequently (on 8 April 2008) named Raditladi after Leetile Disang Raditladi (1910–1971)—Botswanan playwright and poet. Raditladi is one of the youngest features on Mercury.
The central part of Raditladi is occupied by a large peak ring with a diameter of 125 km. The ring is slightly offset from the geometrical center of the basin in the north-west direction. The floor of Raditladi is covered by two types of terrain: light smooths plains and dark hummocky plains. The former partially embay the hummocky plains and are probably volcanic in origin. The latter are present mainly on a part of the floor between the peak ring and crater rim; they interpreted to be the original crater floor material not covered by the light colored lavas of smooth plains. The hummocky plains are slightly bluer than smooth plains. The areas outside Raditladi are covered by the dark relatively blue impact ejecta. The peak ring massifs at some places expose a bright blue material identical to one on the floors of some bright Mercurian impact craters (Bright Crater Floor Deposits—BCFD).
Visible on the floor of Raditladi inside the peak ring are concentric narrow troughs, formed by extension (pulling apart) of the surface. The troughs are arranged in a circular pattern approximately 70 km in diameter. They are thought to be graben. The geometrical center of the system of graben coincides with the center of Raditladi and is offset form the center of the peak ring complex.
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