The morphology and origin of Hadley Rille, the moon

Hadley Rille is directly related to the emplacement of mare basalts in Palus Putredinis. Existing hypotheses of sinuous rille origin are in discord with the cooling behavior of deep lava flows and the strength of materials. It is proposed that Hadley Rille is a channel which returned lava to the southern vent from which it initially extruded and that the channel persisted through many episodes of volcanism. This view is supported by available topographic information obtained by the lunar orbiter photography and the Apollo 15 mission.