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Re: 'aerodynamic' tektites
Hello jj,
Great question! If I understand it correctly, we may have a
cart-before-the-horse situation here. Tektites are aerodynamic because of
their brief flight through the atmosphere. Many tektites show the result of
the aerodynamic stresses placed upon them during their high-speed,
friction-filled passage through air. A golf ball is manufactured with
pockmarks to lessen the drag it experiences flying through the air. On the
other hand, being forced at high-speed through the air, tektites developed
the pockmarks as a result of the air friction.
Also, remember that the tektite was going through different stages of
aerodynamic adjustments when it intersected the earth. Therefore, each
tektite represents one moment in a dynamic process. To understand the whole
aerodynamic picture of tektites, many different tektites must be examined.
There is some excellent information about tektites at the Meteorite
Exchange, URL: http://www.meteorite.com/tektites/Tekindex.htm
An individual tektite may not reflect our usual expectations of an
aerodynamic object, but it may be possible to place the individual tektite
into its aerodynamic stage or position in the sequence. The commonly
accepted stages run something like this: First the hot glassy blob was
formed, then it became somewhat spherical, then it flattened out like a
pancake, then it cracked into two oblong pieces, then each oblong piece
became more rod-like, then the rod formed a dumbbell shape being thinner in
the middle of the shaft, then the shaft became too thin and the dumbbell
broke into two teardrops, and then the tail of the teardrop ablated off
leaving a sphere again although much smaller than the original sphere, and
the whole process repeats until something stops it. With all this in mind,
it is possible to pick up a tektite and guess as to what was going on in
its life when it either solidified, or hit the ground. In addition to the
stages I mentioned, other pieces of the tektite might have come off leaving
an incomplete record of an individual stage.
Occasionally, a tektite flew through the atmosphere and remained in a
stable position or spun only around an axis parallel to its line of flight.
When this occurred, the tektite ablated forming a nose-cone shape or button
shape, either with or without a corresponding rim. These tektites look like
our expectations of an aerodynamic object. The aerodynamic shapes were then
applied to rockets, missiles etc. in order to benefit from the efficiency
of that particular shape.
I hope this helps you jj. Oh, also, I did write this from the perspective
that tektites were formed here on earth, possibly during a cosmic impact. I
may get some argument here, but from what I read, this is the prevailing
thought about the origin of these glassy enigmas.
Sincerely,
Martin
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