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Geology topics

K.B. Larson

Publications and source records attributed to K.B. Larson.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

Preliminary geologic investigation of the Apollo 17 landing site

The Apollo 17 lunar module (LM) landed on the flat floor of a deep valley that embays the mountainous highlands at the eastern rim of the Serenitatis basin. Serenitatis, the site of a pronounced mascon, is one of the major multi-ringed basins on the near side of the Moon. The Taurus-Littrow valley, which is radial to the Serenitatis basis, is interpreted as a deep graben formed by structural adjustment of lunar crustal material to the Serenitatis impact.

Book chapter

Geologic setting of the Apollo 15 samples

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.

Science

Preliminary geologic investigation of the Apollo 15 landing site

The Apollo 15 lunar module (LM) landed at longitude 03°39'20'' E, latitude 26°26'00'' N on the mare surface of Palus Putredinis on the eastern edge of the Imbrium Basin. The site is between the Apennine Mountain front and Hadley Rille. The objectives of the mission, in order of decreasing priority, were description and sampling of three major geologic features—the Apennine Front, Hadley Rille, and the mare.

Book chapter

Preliminary geologic investigation of the Apollo 16 landing site

The Apollo 16 landing site in the lunar central highlands encompassed terra plains and adjacent mountainous areas of hilly and furrowed terra. These morphologic units, representing important terrane types in the lunar highlands, had been interpreted as volcanic on most premission geologic maps. However, it became apparent during the mission that there are indeed few or no volcanic rocks or landforms at the site but rather that the area is underlain by a wide variety of impact-generated breccias.

Book chapter

Geologic setting of the lunar samples returned by the Apollo 11 mission

The Apollo 11 LM landed approximately 20 km south-southwest of the crater Sabine D in the southwestern part of Mare Tranquillitatis ( fig. 3-1 ). The landing site is 41.5 km north-northeast of the western promontory of the Kant Plateau (ref. 3-1 ), which is the nearest highland region. The Surveyor 5 spacecraft is approximately 25 km north-northwest of the Apollo 11 landing site, and the impact crater formed by Ranger 8 is 68 km northeast of the landing site.

Book chapter