Fluorine and boron geochemistry of tektites,impact glasses,and target rocks

Abstract— We have analyzed fluorine and boron in nine tektites from all four strewn fields, and in a suite of impact glasses and target rocks from the Zhamanshin and Darwin impact craters, as well as Libyan Desert Glass and Aouelloul impact glass samples. Fluorine and boron are useful indicators for the volatilization and temperature history of tektites and impact glasses. Tektites from different strewn fields show a limited range of F and B contents and have F/B ratios near unity. Most splash-form tektites have lower average F and B contents than Muong Nong type tektites, which is similar to the relation between irghizites and zhamanshinites. The F and B contents in target rocks from the Zhamanshin and Darwin impact craters are similar to normal terrestrial sediments. Fluorine in impact glasses and tektites is more depleted compared to their (known or inferred) target rocks than is boron, which is caused by the higher volatility of F. The F/B ratios therefore decrease with increasing temperature of formation (suggesting that irghizites were formed at a higher temperature than zhamanshinites, and Muong Nong type tektites at a lower temperature than splash-form tektites). Mixing of local country rocks together with partial loss of the volatiles F and B can reproduce the F and B contents of impact glasses.     

Origin of tektites: Constraints from heavy noble gas concentrations

Abstract— Heavy noble gas concentrations in tektites (splash-form type) are considerably lower than those in impact glasses. This can not be explained only by high formation temperatures for tektites, as might be expected from low concentrations of water and most volatile elements in tektites, and indicates that tektites solidified in an atmosphere with an ambient pressure of much less than 1 atm. The heavy noble gas concentrations may be an indicator of the height to which tektites were carried by the impact before they solidified.     

Water in tektites and impact glasses by fourier-transformed infrared spectrometry

Abstract— To improve the scarce data base of H₂O content in tektites and impact glasses, we analyzed 26 tektites from all four strewn fields and 25 impact glass samples for their H₂O content. We used the fourier-transformed infrared (FTIR) spectrometry method, which permits measurement of areas of ～40 μm in diameter. Our results show that the tektites have H₂O contents ranging from 0.002 to 0.030 wt% (average 0.014 ± 0.008 wt%). Ivory Coast tektites have the lowest H₂O abundances (0.002–0.003 wt%), and Muong Nong-type indochinites and some North American tektites having the highest contents (up to ～0.03 wt%). Impact glass samples (from the Zhamanshin, Aouelloul, and Rio Cuarto craters) yielded H₂O contents of 0.008 to 0.13 wt% H₂O. Typical impact glasses from the Aouelloul and Zhamanshin craters have low H₂O contents (0.008 to 0.063 wt%). Libyan Desert Glasses and Rio Cuarto glasses have higher H₂O contents (～0.11 wt%). We also analyzed glasses of unknown origin (e.g., urengoites; glass fragments from Tikal), which showed very low H₂O contents, in agreement with an origin by impact. Our data confirm that all tektites found on land have very low H₂O contents (<0.03 wt% H₂O), while impact glasses have slightly higher H₂O contents. Both glass types are very dry compared to volcanic glasses. This study confirms that the low H₂O contents (<0.05 wt%) of such glasses can be considered good evidence for an origin by impact.     

Halogens in tektites and impact glasses

Abstract— Impact glasses, tektites and some related basement rocks were analyzed for F, Cl, Br and I. The tektite and impact glasses show similar abundance patterns within the groups. Muong Nong-type tektites indicate that the halogens have been depleted in the order I > Br > Cl > F in their melt under oxidizing conditions. For Darwin Glass selective volatilization of F from the melt is a major depleting process. Cl, Br and I are lost to a lesser extent.     

Origin of tektites

Abstract— The origin of tektites has been obscure because of the following dilemma. The application of physical principles to the data available on tektites points strongly to origin from one or more lunar volcanoes; but few glasses of tektite composition have hitherto been reported from the lunar samples. Instead, the lunar silicic glasses consist chiefly of a material very rich in K₂O and poor in MgO. The ratio of K₂O/MgO is higher in these glasses than in any tektites reported. The solution of the dilemma seems to come from the study of some recently discovered terrestrial deposits of tektite glass with high values of K₂O/MgO at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. These glasses are found to be very vulnerable to crystallization into sandine or to alteration to smectite. These end products are known and are more abundant than any terrestrial deposits of tektite glass. It seems possible that, in fact, the moon produces tektite glass, mostly of the high K₂O-low MgO type; but on Earth these deposits are destroyed. The much less abundant deposits with lower K and higher Mg are observed because they survive. Other objections to the lunar origin hypothesis appear to be answerable.     

Noble gases in Muong Nong‐type tektites and their implications

Abstract— We have the elemental abundances and isotopic compositions of noble gases in Muong Nong‐type tektites from the Australasian strewn field by crushing and by total fusion of the samples. We found that the abundances of the heavy noble gases are significantly enriched in Muong Nong‐type tektites compared to those in normal splash‐form tektites from the same strewn field. Neon enrichments were also observed in the Muong Nong‐type tektites, but the Ne/Ar ratios were lower than those in splash‐form tektites because of the higher Ar contents in the former. The absolute concentrations of the heavy noble gases in Muong Nong‐type tektites are similar to those in impact glasses. The isotopic ratios of the noble gases in Muong Nong‐type tektites are mostly identical to those in air, except for the presence of radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar. The obtained K‐Ar ages for Muong Nong‐type tektites were about 0.7 Myr, similar to ages of other Australasian tektites. The crushing experiments suggest that the noble gases in the Muong Nong‐type tektites reside mostly in vesicles, although Xe was largely affected by adsorbed atmosphere after crushing. We used the partial pressure of the heavy noble gases in vesicles to estimate the barometric pressure in the vesicles of the Muong Nong‐type tektites. Likely, Muong Nong‐type tektites solidified at the altitude (between the surface and a maximum height of 8–30 km) lower than that for splash‐form tektites.     

ZHAMANSHIN AND AOUELLOUL: CRATERS PRODUCED BY IMPACT OF TEKTITE-LIKE GLASSES?

It is shown that the enhanced abundance of siderophile elements and chromium in tektite-like glasses from the two impact craters of Zhamanshin and Aouelloul cannot be explained as a result of contamination of the country rock by meteorites nor, probably, comets. The pattern is, however, like that found in certain Australasian tektites, and in Ivory Coast tektites. It is concluded, in agreement with earlier suggestions by Campbell-Smith and Hey, that these craters were formed by the impact of large masses of tektite-like glass, of which the glasses which were studied are fragments. It follows that it is necessary, in considering an impact crater, to bear in mind that the projectile may have been a glass.     

Major and trace element compositions of georgiaites: Clues to the source of North American tektites

Abstract— Electron microprobe and laser ablation, inductively‐coupled plasma mass spectrometer analyses of 24 georgiaites show that these tektites are all Si‐rich (79–83 wt% SiO₂) glasses with variable major and trace element abundances (e.g., FeO varies from 2.1 to 3.7 wt%). Glass compositions are similar to but not identical with average upper continental crust. For example, georgiaites are light rare earth element enriched with small negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu*=0.73‐0.86) and La‐Th‐Sc systematics are intermediate between that of Archean and post‐Archean continental crust. When the georgiaite data are placed in the context of data for all North American tektites, triangular arrays appear on some oxide‐oxide plots (e.g., FeO‐MgO). Large variations in refractory element abundances and ratios compared to the variation in SiO₂ favors mixing over volatilization as a cause of the compositional variation. If all the tektites formed as a result of a single impact, then triangular arrays in oxide‐oxide variation diagrams require at least three source components. These components include a Si‐rich material, probably a quartz‐rich sand that was predominant in the formation of georgiaites. Two relatively silica‐poor and Fe‐rich components have compositional characteristics similar to shales and greywackes. The La‐Th‐Sc systematics of the georgiaites and most other North American tektites are distinctive and could potentially be used to link the tektites to Eocene sediments at the Chesapeake Bay impact structure.     

The meteorite collection of “Giorgio Abetti”* Astronomical Observatory and Museum,San Giovanni in Persiceto,Bologna, Italy: An update of the catalog

Abstract— A catalogue of a collection of meteorites is presented. The catalogue is complete through 1995 December. It includes 206 stony meteorites, 47 iron meteorites, 18 stony-iron meteorites, and 30 tektites, natural glasses, etc.     

Krypton and xenon fractionation in North American tektites

Abstract— Elemental and isotopic compositions of the noble gases have been determined in six North American tektites (4 bediasites and 2 georgiaites) and one Ivory Coast tektite. Radiogenically produced ⁴He may explain the large ⁴He/³⁶Ar ratios measured relative to air, despite significant diffusive losses. The Ne isotopic composition is enriched in ²⁰Ne consistent with a single stage mass fractionation process. The enormous ²⁰Ne/³⁶Ar enrichments observed in all tektite samples, similar to those reported from other tektites and impact glasses, are attributed to atmospheric diffusion into the samples following solidification. The North American tektites show a systematic increase in ⁸⁴Kr/³⁶Ar and ¹³²Xe/³⁶Ar relative to air, with enrichments greater than those determined for any other tektite group or terrestrial samples other than shales. These enrichments are inconsistent with existing models of dissolving Kr and Xe in tektite glass without elemental fractionation at atmospheric pressures equivalent to ∼40 km altitude. The Kr and Xe isotopic compositions are indistinguishable from atmospheric within experimental uncertainty.     

Weathering and polymerization of tektites: An x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) investigation

Abstract— Tektites are natural glasses formed from terrestrial material that was melted and displaced by the impact of an extraterrestrial body. The surface and near-surface compositions of tektite glass results from fractionation during impact and ejection, and/or postsolidification weathering. The first goal of this study was to characterise the surface and near-surface (in the order of tens of angstroms) chemical composition of two tektites by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and to estimate the importance of weathering vs. fractionation during flying. In order to separate the chemical modification due to weathering from that due to fractionation during ballistic flight, we studied two samples from the Australasian tektite strewn field. One of them was collected in a hot desert area (Nullarbor Plain, Australia) and the other, in a humid climate (Thailand). Our study reveals the presence of well-developed leached layers in both tektites. In the Australian tektite, Si is depleted in the topmost layers (a few tens of angstroms). A more complex chemical zoning is defined in the tektite from Thailand. These leached layers are comparable to those observed in weathered glasses, and therefore we conclude that weathering is responsible for the chemical composition of the surface and near-surface compositions. The second goal was to investigate the chemical environment of O, N and C in the glass. The O peak was resolved into two bridging O components (Si-O-Si and Al-O-Si) that are comparable to O environments in artificial glasses. The binding energy of the C_1s electron is typical for C-C and C-H bonds in hydrocarbons; minor organic acid components are also present. Nitrogen is only observed on the surface of the Thailand tektite. The binding energy of N_1s is comparable to that of ammonia, and the surface enrichment in N is interpreted as due to sorption related to interactions between glass and fluid buffered by the organic material in the soil.     

Tektite research 1936–1990*

Abstract— Fifty-odd years of tektite research are reviewed, proceeding from the discovery of the first North American tektites in 1936. This included the early recognition that tektites were terrestrial objects rather than meteorites and that the glassy particles in tektites were fused quartz (lechatelierite). Later, during National Science Foundation-supported research, it was found that some tektites appeared to have formed as puddles of melt, that the content and character of bubbles in lechatelierite can be used as a relative temperature scale, that rayed bubbles in tektites formed from hydrous minerals, that bubbles in tektites formed chiefly from water which was absorbed into the walls of the bubbles leaving vacuums, and that “fingers” in the surficial part of some tektites may have formed by differential volatilization. Some unpublished observations and adventures are briefly reported.     

Variation of chemical composition in Australasian tektites from different localities in Vietnam

Abstract— One hundred and thirteen Australasian tektites from Vietnam (Hanoi, Vinh, Dalat, and Saigon areas) were analyzed for their major and trace element contents. The tektites are either of splash form or Muong Nong‐type. The splash‐form tektites have SiO₂ contents ranging from 69.7 to 76.8 wt%, whereas Muong Nong‐type tektites, which are considerably larger than splash‐form tektites and have a blocky and chunky appearance, have slightly higher silica contents in the range of 74–81 wt%. Major‐element relationships, such as FeO versus major oxides, Na₂O versus K₂O, and oxide ratio plots, were used to distinguish the different groups of the tektites. In addition, correlation coefficients have been calculated for each tektite group of this study. Many chemical similarities are noted between Hanoi and Vinh tektites from the north of Vietnam, except that the Hanoi tektites contain higher contents of CaO than Vinh; the higher content of CaO might be due to some carbonate parent material. Both Dalat and Saigon tektites have nearly similar composition, whereas the bulk chemistries of the tektites from Hanoi and Vinh appear different from those of Saigon and Dalat. There are differences, especially in the lower CaO and Na₂O and higher MgO, FeO, for the tektites of Dalat and Saigon in comparison to that of Hanoi tektites. Furthermore, the Dalat and Saigon tektites show enrichments by factors of 3 and 2 for the Ni and Cr contents, respectively, compared to those of Hanoi and Vinh. The difference in chemistry between the North Vietnam tektites (Hanoi, Vinh) to that of South Vietnam tektites (Saigon, Dalat) of this study indicate that the parent material was heterogeneous and possibly mixing between different source rocks took place. Muong Nong‐type tektites are enriched in the volatile elements such as Br, Zn, As, and Sb compared to the average splash‐form tektites of this study. The chemical compositions of the average splash‐form and Muong Nong‐type tektites of this study closely resemble published data for average splash‐form and Muong Nong‐type indochinites, indicating that they have the same source. The trace element ratios Ba/Rb (2.7), Th/U (5.2), Th/Sc (1.3), Th/Sm (2.2), and the rare earth element (REE) abundances of this study show close similarities to those of average upper continental crust.     

Source of Australasian tektites: Investigating possible impact sites in Laos

Abstract— The site of an impact event that spread ejecta in the form of tektites and microtektites over ～5 × 10⁷ km² of the southern Pacific and Indian Ocean area has not yet been discovered. A number of lines of evidence point toward a source in eastern Indochina. From an examination of a digital topographic data set and Landsat imagery, we identified four candidate structures in southern Laos, and we visited these sites in 1995 February. No evidence of impact origin of these structures could be found; flat-lying, undisturbed Mesozoic sedimentary rocks similar to those on Thailand's Khorat Plateau were found over the region. Small layered tektite fragments are relatively common in a lateritic horizon that is characterized by the presence of quartz pebbles. This scene is identical to the situation found several hundred kilometers to the southeast in Thailand. New tektite sites identified on this trip support a previous suggestion that there is a large region in southern NE Thailand and Laos that is rich in Muong Nong-type (layered) tektites but seemingly devoid of the splash-form type tektites.     

Two layers of Australasian impact ejecta in the Indian Ocean?

Abstract— Only 2 Australasian tektites have been found in the Indian Ocean, and both are associated with surficial sediments. We collected cores from both locations where the tektites have been reported. The microtektites in these cores (and both the tektites, as reported earlier) have chemical compositions within the compositional range previously reported for Australasian tektites and microtektites. In both locations, while the tektites are occurring at the sediment/water interface, the microtektites are found buried in older horizons beneath the seafloor at stratigraphic levels, conforming to the radiometric age of the strewn field. Thus, at first glance, there appear to be 2 layers of Australasian impact ejecta in the Indian Ocean. However, the manganese nodules are associated with the tektites which, although millions of years old, are invariably resting on recent sediments. Therefore, the mechanism that retains nodules at the seafloor also seems to be operative on the tektites, thus leading to this apparent “age paradox” of tektite/microtektite distribution in the Indian Ocean, although they both belong to the same impact event.     

Australites from Northern Australia

Abstract— Abundant tektites have been found in buried alluvial gravels at the south end of Lake Argyle in far northern Australia. The recovered tektites are unusual in that an astounding number are very large and 75% of those analyzed to date are HMg tektites, heretofore a very rare type in Australia. It is now clear that the paucity of tektites in northern Australia is due to the former high energy erosional environment rather than to crossing the strewnfield boundary, as has been previously suggested. The N-S extent of the australite strewnfield encompasses the entire continent.     

Distribution of noble gases in Chinese tektites: Implication for neon solubility in natural glasses

Abstract— Five indochinites from Hainan Island and the Leizhou Peninsula, China were analyzed for noble gas abundances and isotopic ratios. These splash‐form tektites show vesiculation ranging from 0.4 vol% to 8 vol%, as determined by digital image analysis (software SXM®) on thin section photographs. To study the distribution of noble gases in vesicles and in glass, the gases were extracted by heating and by crushing, respectively, on 2 aliquots of the same sample. The results show that 5 to 53% of the total measured ²⁰Ne resides in vesicles. The calculated concentration of neon dissolved in the glass is higher (0.7‐1 times 10^?7 cm³STP/g) than that expected from solubility equilibrium (1 times 10^?8 cm³STP/g), assuming solubility data from MORB glasses. The neon concentration of splash‐form tektites, those analyzed in this work and those from other strewn‐fields worldwide, is correlated with the SiO₂ content of glass and with the nonbridging oxygen per tetrahedral cation in the melt (hereafter NBO/T ratio), the latter being an index of the free‐volume in the silica network where neon could be dissolved. These correlations suggest that the glass structure of tektite has a larger free‐volume available for dissolving noble gases than MORB glasses.     

Tektites: Size estimates of their source craters and implications for their origin

From estimates of the total masses of tektites in three strewnfields, calculations by Orphal et al. (1980) of the amount of melt that could be ejected from impact craters, and equations relating kinetic energy of impact to crater diameter, it is possible to calculate minimum diameters of lunar craters capable of ejecting the liquid masses that could have formed the various tektite strewnfields. No lunar craters of the requisite sizes have been found that are young enough to correlate with the dates of formations of the strewnfields and it seems clear that the Moon must be eliminated as a source of tektites on the Earth. It is concluded that the associations of the Ivory Coast tektites with the Bosumtwi crater and the moldavites with the Rieskessel are real and the tektites are of terrestrial origin. It follows that if the Ivory Coast tektites came from the 10.5-km-wide Bosumtwi crater, the larger masses in the Australasian and North American strewnfields came from craters 17 km in diameter and between 33 and 65 km in diameter, respectively. No crater has yet been proven to be the parent of the Australisian tektites. The large crater that formed the North American tektites may not yet have been found, although the Mistastin Lake Crater may eventually be proven to be the source.     

Suevite breccia from the Ries crater,Germany: Origin,cooling history and devitrification of impact glasses

Abstract— The distribution and petrography of surficial suevite breccias of the Ries impact crater in Southern Germany are reviewed, and the morphology, petrography and chemical composition of impact glasses in suevite breccias and their postdepositional devitrification is synthesized. Origin and thermal history of suevite breccia and suevite glasses are inferred from these data and from recent results of cooling and crystallization experiments with suevite glass melts under controlled conditions. In a montmorillonitic groundmass, the suevite breccia contains pieces of glass, up to some decimeters in size, and crystalline rock clasts of all stages of shock metamorphism. The glass particles originated in impact melt of basement gneisses and cooled by adiabatic pressure release from ～80 GPa to atmospheric pressure during ejection from the crater. They were deposited on the ground together with the other suevite components at a temperature of ～750 °C. Fractured glass pieces in the breccia show that during deposition of the suevite the temperature was below the temperature at which undercooled melt transforms to rigid glass. The suevite cooled after deposition mainly by convection of heat by emanating gases and vapors. In chilled layers at the base and at the top of suevite deposits, the glasses are preserved in vitreous state. Between these zones, the glasses were devitrified, yet crystallization of pyroxene, plagioclase and magnetite took place below the glass-transformation temperature. Annealing experiments show that this unusual devitrification below the transformation temperature can be explained by the impact origin of suevite glasses. Due to rapid adiabatic cooling on decompression, the glasses were oversaturated with water and internally strained. Under these conditions, devitrification, especially the formation of plagioclase, was possible at temperatures below the transformation range. The origin from adiabatically cooled impact melt of deep-seated rocks distinguishes water-bearing suevite glasses from the Ries-derived, water-free moldavite tektites, which are interpreted as condensates of vaporized, surficial sediments (Engelhardt et al., 1987).     

Nd and Sr isotopic evidence for the origin of tektite material from DSDP site 612 off the New Jersey coast

Abstract— Late Eocene tektite material from DSDP site 612 is composed of angular to spherical tektites and microtektites containing abundant vesicles and a few unmelted to partially melted mineral inclusions. The major element compositions of the 612-tektites are generally comparable to those of North American tektites, but the physical features suggest that the DSDP-612 tektites were formed by less severe shock melting. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd compositions of 612-tektites: a) show much wider ranges than the tightly constrained group of North American tektites and microtektites, and b) are significantly different from those of other groups of tektites. The existence of large isotopic variations in tektites from DSDP site 612 requires that they were formed from a chemically and isotopically heterogeneous material in a regime that is distinctive from that of other groups of tektites. T^ND_CHUR and T^Sr_UR model ages of the 612-tektites indicate that they were formed from a crustal source of late Precambrian mean age (800–1000 Ma) which in middle Palaeozoic time (?400 Ma) was further enriched in Rb/Sr during sedimentary processes. These source characteristics suggest that the impact which produced the 612-tektites occurred in rocks of the Appalachian orogeny or sediments derived from this orogenic belt. Potential source materials for both 612-tektites and North American tektites are present on the eastern and southeastern part of the North American continent and its adjacent shelf. The distinct isotopic differences between 612-tektites and North American tektites indicate that the two groups of tektites were either formed by the impact of more than one bolide in the same general area, or by a single impact event that sampled different layers.