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Re: Tektite meteorite

Hi Dave and List:

The tektite you have described in size and shape sounds like a generic
indochinite. You did not mention color but I assume it was black. The brown
material in the pits sounds like the remains of the lateritic soils common
to the areas in which indochinites are found in Thailand. If it is a
indochinite splashform than it was overpriced, but this was a government
gift shop so what is really the meaning of overpriced.
''You don't think they really get $20,000 for a hammer and $30,000 for a
toilet seat do you." rough quote from Independence Day.

The brown material in some of the tektites is very hard and is like a
concretion filling the deeper pits. So it is hard to say if it was poor
preparation or not. If the material was soft and powdery like the clay soil
then it was. If it was hard and dark brown than it was one of these
interesting bit of material which I personally tend to buy if I see them.
And they are difficult to remove safely and I would rather have them in the
specimen.

Jim Tobin
The Meteorite Exchange
www.meteorite.com
P.O.7000-455, Redondo Beach, CA 90277 USA

----------
> From: Dave Hostetter 
> To: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
> Subject: Re: Tektite meteorite
> Date: Monday, July 20, 1998 9:14 AM
> 
> Hi, list:
> 
> Some of you may remember last week's discussion of an ad for a "tektite
> meteorite" that mentioned that the items also sold at the "Houston Space
> Museum," which I suspected really meant Space Center Houston near JSC.
> 
> By coincidence, I was scheduled to take a field trip group over there
> this past Saturday, so I checked on tektites.  The sales people I talked
> to had no idea what I was talking about, but did a commendable search to
> find it for me.  Finally someone remembered that all but one of the
> "tektite meteorites" had sold out, and it was in the other gift shop.
> 
> The one I found there was not quite spherical, about an inch long and
> 3/4 inch thick.  The surface was covered with small pits, most of which
> contained a brown material (OK, tektite experts, is that a particular
> type of tektite, or a sign of poor sample preparation?).  The weekend
> sales people had no idea what tektites were, and couldn't tell me what
> type of tektite it was, although one said she thought it was "some kind
> of titanium or something."  The certificate of authenticity came from a
> collectibles shop, and the short explanation of tektites that came with
> the sample said they were extraterrestrial material mixed with
> terrestrial ejecta during an impact (comments, Lou?).  The price was
> $150, which seemed steep so I left it for someone else.
> 
> Dave Hostetter
> 
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