Detailed geologic map, Apollo 17 (Taurus-Littrow) landing area

Wolfe, Edward W.; Freeman, Val L.

doi:10.3133/ofr72452

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“…In comparison with the massifs, boulders and rocky ledges are relatively scarce in the Sculptured Hills, which suggested that they might be underlain by less coherent material that is lithologically distinct from the massif material (Wolfe and others, 1972b). However, the premission geologic map pers Wolfe and Freeman, 1972) agreed that the unit most probably consists mainly of basin ejecta. and Head (I974a) noted the similarity in distribution and morphology of the Sculptured Hills unit of the Serenitatis basin and the Alpes Formation of the Im brium basin, a relation from which Head interpreted the Sculptured Hills materials to be related to the Serenitatis impact.…”

Section: ° Ementioning

confidence: 91%

“…Detailed mapping Wolfe and Freeman, 1972) showed that rock ledges are exposed high on the massifs and that boulders had rolled from ledges to the valley floor. It was expected that the lower slopes of the massifs as well as the bounding faults were covered by talus from the upper parts of the massifs (Wolfe and others, 1972b).…”

Section: ° Ementioning

confidence: 99%

“…A unit of low hills material was mapped locally within the Taurus-Littrow valley along the margins of the more prominent highland masses Wolfe and Freeman, 1972). It was interpreted as down-faulted highlands material or deposits formed by mass wasting of material from the massifs or the Sculptured Hills.…”

Section: ° Ementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Early in 1972, geologic study of the Taurus-Littrow area was greatly accelerated as preparations for Apollo 17 began. Utilizing Apollo 15 photographs, prepared al:250,000-scale geologic map of the Taurus-Littrow region, Lucchitta (l972) prepared a l:50,000-scale map of the Taurus-Littrow valley and its bordering highlands, and Wolfe and Freeman (1972) prepared a 1:25,000-scale geologic map as the basis for detailed traverse planning. During this period, Scott andPohn (1972) completed the 1:1,000,000-scale map of the Macrobius quadrangle, which includes the Apollo 17 landing site and spans almost the entire highland region between Mare Serenitatis and Mare Crisium.…”

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“…2) was also prepared. It incorporates the premis sion mapping of Wolfe and Freeman (1972) with addi tional geologic details from Apollo 17 panoramic cam era photographs. No revised version of the 1:50,000scale map was prepared, because the premission map adequately portrays the distribution of units.…”

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The geologic investigation of the Taurus-Littrow Valley; Apollo 17 landing site, with a section on Apollo 17 lunar surface photography

Wolfe¹,

Bailey²,

Lucchitta³

et al. 1981

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Astronauts Cernan and Schmitt, of Apollo 17, landed in the Taurus-Littrow valley of the Moon on December 11,1972. Their major objectives were (l) to sample very ancient lunar material such as might be found in pre-Imbrian highlands as distant as possible from the Imbrium basin and (2) to sample pyroclastic materials that had been interpreted as significantly younger than the mare basalts re turned from previous Apollo landing sites. The crew worked approx imately 22 hours on the lunar surface; they traversed about 30 km, collected nearly 120 kg of samples, took more than 2,200 photo graphs, and recorded many direct geologic observations. The lunar surface data, sample results, and geologic interpretation from orbital photographs are the bases for this geologic synthesis.The Taurus-Littrow massifs are interpreted as the upper part of the thick, faulted ejecta deposited on the rim of the transient cavity of the large southern Serenitatis basin, which was formed about 3.9 to 4.0 b.y. ago by the impact of a planetesimal. The target rocks, pre dominantly of the dunite-anorthosite-norite-troctolite suite or its metamorphosed equivalents, were fractured, sheared, crushed, and melted by the impact. The resulting mixture of crushed rock and melt was transported up and out of the transient cavity and depos ited on and beyond its rim. Hot fragmental to partly molten ejecta and relatively cool cataclasite and relict target rocks were intermixed in a melange of lenses, pods, and veins. Crystallization of melts and thermal metamorphism of fine-grained fragmental debris produced breccia composed of rock and mineral fragments in a fine-grained, coherent, crystalline matrix. Such breccia dominates the massif samples.High-angle faults that bound the massifs were activated during formation of the basin, so that structural relief of several kilometers was imposed on the ejecta almost as soon as it was deposited. Mas sive slumping that produced thick wedges of colluvium on the lower massif slopes probably occurred nearly contemporaneously with the faulting. Material of the Sculptured Hills, perhaps largely cataclasite excavated from the southern Serenitatis basin by the same impact, was then deposited on and around the massifs.Basalt, estimated to be about 1,400 m thick in the landing site, flooded the Taurus-Littrow graben before approximately 3.7 b.y. ago. The basalt (subfloor basalt) is part of a more extensive unit that was broadly warped and cut by extensional faults before the accumula tion in Mare Serenitatis of younger, less deformed basalts that over lap it. A thin volcanic ash unit, probably about 3.5 b.y. old, mantled the subfloor basalt and the nearby highlands. It, too, was sub sequently overlapped by the younger basalt of Mare Serenitatis.In the time since deposition of the volcanic ash, continued bom bardment by primary and secondary projectiles has produced regolith, which is a mechanical mixture of debris derived mainly from the subfloor basalt, the volcanic ash, and the rocks of the nearby massifs and Sculptured Hil...

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Section: ° Ementioning

confidence: 91%

Section: ° Ementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ° Ementioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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