Geologic Setting of the Apollo 15 Samples

Abstract

The samples and photographs returned from the Apollo 15 site show that Hadley Delta is largely underlain by breccias whose clasts are mainly fragments of coarse-grained feldspathic rocks and nonmare-type basalt. Conspicuous sets of lineaments, visible in surface and orbital photographs of Mount Hadley and Hadley Delta, may represent systematic layering or fracture sets. The mare surface, with regolith about 5 meters thick, is underlain by two major basalt types, at least one of which has extensive lateral continuity and is exposed in the upper wall of Hadley Rille. Gradual erosional recession of the edges and filing of the interior of the rille by talus have contributed to the present cross sectional profile.