Photogeology: Part B: Cayley Formation interpreted as basin ejecta

The discovery that samples returned from the Cayley Formation at the Apollo 16 landing site consist mainly of nonvolcanic breccias (secs. 6 and 7 of this report) suggests that the hypothesis in which light plains-forming materials may be ejecta from multi-ring basins should be reevaluated (refs 29-15 to 29-17). Improved information on the morphology and distribution of the Cayley Formation, provided by Apollo 16 orbital photography, leads to a concept in which the Cayley Formation was deposited as fluidized debris that traveled beyond the presently recognizable extent of the Imbrium Basin ejecta. An elaboration of this genetic model is in preparation; the description, a summary of the model, and its implications are presented in this subsection.