A CHEMICAL STUDY OF THE IMPACT GLASSES AND BASAL TS FROM LONAR CRATER,INDIA

Twenty-nine elements have been determined by INAA in two impact glasses and four basalts from Lonar Crater, India. The glasses are remarkably similar to the underlying core basalt samples in major, minor and trace element abundances. This suggests that impact-induced chemical fractionation during formation of the glasses from basalt is minimal for many of the principal rock and mineral-forming elements. It should be recognized that many of the most volatile trace elements were not determined in this study. Differences in the volatile trace element contents of the glasses and basalts due to either impact-induced fractionation, or incorporation of material from a volatile-rich impacting body, can not yet be excluded.