Geological Chronicle
Palus Putredinis, translated as the Marsh of Decay, is a nearly level, lava-flooded plain covering a 180-kilometer diameter in the Mare Imbrium basin. The plain stretches from the crater Archimedes southeast toward the Montes Apenninus range, bounded by the crater Autolycus and nearby highlands to the northeast and the foothills of Montes Archimedes to the southwest. Just northwest of the midpoint lies the nearly submerged crater Spurr.
A rille system designated Rimae Archimedes lies in the southern part of the area. To the south is a prominent linear rille named Rima Bradley, while Rima Hadley served as the landing site for Apollo 15, alongside Rimae Fresnel to the east. Luna 2 crashed in Palus Putredinis on September 13, 1959.
The basalts in this mare are interpreted as rich in radioactive elements, but low in titanium. Mare basalts sampled at the Apollo 15 landing site are dominated by two low-titanium varieties: olivine-normative basalts dated to 3.30 billion years ago and slightly older quartz-normative basalts at 3.35 billion years ago. Volcanic glasses in the area show ages spanning 3.30 to 3.60 billion years ago.