The variation of iron and manganese in tektites

Iron and manganese have been determined in sixteen australites, nine javaites, two phillipinites, two indochinites, two bediasites and four moldavites. The Pacific Ocean tektites all have approximately the same abundance of these elements but differ significantly from the American and European occurrences. The variation of minor elements in tektites, insofar as they may be represented by manganese, appears to be considerably less than previous estimates. The $\text{MnO}\text{FeO}$ ratios in the three major tektite groups indicate their formation from three entirely different parental materials. These ratios are consistent with a sedimentary origin of moldavites and bediasites and an igneous derivation of the Pacific Ocean tektites; however, more precisely determined ratios of geochemically coherent elements are required to confirm this result.