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Geology topics

V. S. Reed

Publications and source records attributed to V. S. Reed.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1976

Geology of the massifs at the Apollo 17 landing site

The Apollo 17 spacecraft landed in a narrow valley that embays mountainous terrain near the southeastern edge of Mare Serenitatis. Two overlapping basin structures underlie Mare Serenitatis: a larger one to the south and a smaller one to the north. The massifs and sculptured hills in the Taurus-Littrow area and the mountains and knobby terrain in the outer Rook ring (third ring) of the Orientale basin are similar in morphology ; the Apollo 17 site lies approximately on the third ring of the southern Serenitatis basin structure. Assuming the third ring represents the approximate rim of the transient cavity of the southern Serenitatis structure, we suggest that ejecta many kilometres thick was deposited in the Taurus-Littrow area by the southern Serenitatis impact. This ejecta is visible in the massifs in the Apollo 17 landing site as discontinuous, irregular lenses of variable lithology. The southern Serenitatis target rocks were predominantly breccias that were invaded by impact-generated melt and redeposited during the southern Serenitatis event.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1973

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↗
USGS1972

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↗
USGS1972

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↗
USGS1972

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↗