[meteorite-list] African Moldavite + Off-topic

From: Bernd Pauli HD <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:53:33 2004
Message-ID: <3DF3BC91.88634355_at_lehrer.uni-karlsruhe.de>

Mark wrote:

> "African Moldavite" ... Can sometimes be directly
> associated with meteorite impact craters.

Hello Mark and List,

A few remarks - as soon as it is called a "moldavite",
it is solely associated with the Ries impact event, ca.
15 million years ago.

> Notable Occurrences include Moldavia region of
> Eastern Europe; Thailand and southeast Asia;
> Australia and Georgia, USA.

The only locations for "moldavites" in the
strictest sense of the word are the following:

a) Southern part of the Czech Republic,
b) Northern part of lower Austria,
c) Near Dresden in Eastern Germany.

> One report said that because it contains chromium it MUST
> be Man made as natural glass doesn't contain chromium ...

Those tektites from Thailand or SE Asia are usually called indochinites
but there are several sub-groups (depending on location and chemical
analysis).

As for Australia, they are "australites" - these should
not be tossed into a melting pot with moldavites because
they sure have different terrestrial ages and different
chemical make-ups.

Tektites from Georgia are usually called "Geogiaites".
They, too, cannot be called "moldavites" for reasons
already stated.

As for the "USA", there are, for example,
bediasites from the Texan "strewn field",
or the one from Martha's Vineyard.

One final remark: Moldavites do contain
trace amounts of the element chromium.

Bernd


P.S.: Unable to go into details because my wife's dad
       is on his deathbed. (Yeah, Mr X., I know it does
       not belong here, so don't remind me of it!)
Received on Sun 08 Dec 2002 04:41:37 PM PST