[meteorite-list] CCNet Excerpts: Tektites, Plant Burning and Stone tools

From: meteorites_at_space.com <meteorites_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:46:23 2004
Message-ID: <20010513171232.3028.cpmta_at_c000.snv.cp.net>

On Sun, 13 May 2001, "Darryl S. Futrell" wrote:

>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: meteorites_at_space.com <meteorites@space.com>
> To: jonee_at_epix.net <jonee@epix.net>
> Cc: Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
> <Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
> Date: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 8:20 AM
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] CCNet Excerpts: Tektites, Plant Burning and
> Stone tools
>
>
> There were about 27 references claimed to support the terrestrial origin of
> tektites originally listed here. In my last post, maybe I shouldn't have
> deleted even the two that are pro-lunar. So, I'll list those two here in
> case anyone was wondering about them. Also, I want to include a third
> reference that I forgot to include earlier. The one by Yamei et al, 2000,
> in Science. This is about the age of early Chinese stone tools, and NOT
> about tektites. The only mention of tektites is when these authors chose to
> date their stone tools with the age of around 800,000 years. This is the
> age claimed by the 'impact' people for the fall of the Australasian
> tektites, as that is when they were last all molten, and therefore presumed
> to have fallen. Others, however, have presented evidence that the
> Australasian tektites, even though they formed some .8 m.y. ago, didn't fall
> until only 10,000 to 15,000 years ago! The Russian tektite researcher Emil
> Izokh could find no tektites in Vietnam in sediments older than 10,000 -
> 15,000 years, and several Australian geologists earlier found the same to be
> true for Australites. This is easily explained in the context of a lunar
> volcanic origin. Although the tektite glasses were volcanically deposited
> on the lunar surface some .8 m.y. ago, they remained there until being
> ejected toward Earth in a later colossal eruption some 10,000 - 15,000 years
> ago. This would explain the 60 or so Australasian microtektites found in
> the Indian Ocean exhibiting micrometeorite impact pits. Makes a lot more
> sense to me that those stone tools date back only some 10 to 15 thousand
> years. Based on the conflicting evidence, I don't think one can depend on
> the .8 m.y. old age of the tektites to date other objects. I think another
> way needs to be found to date those stone tools.
> Darryl
>
>
> References
> Chao, E. C. T., 1993, Comparison of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary impact
> events and the 0.77-Ma Australasian tektite event: relevance to mass
> extinction, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 2050, Denver.
>
> Povenmire, H., Liu, W., and Xianlin, l., March, 1999, Australasian tektites
> found in Guangxi Province, China. 30th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science
> Conference, Houston.
>
> Yamei, H., Potts, R., Baoyin, Y., Zhengtang, G., Deino, A., Wei, W., Clark,
> J.,
> Guangmao, X. and Weiwen, H., 2000, Mid-Pleistocene Acheulean-like stone
> technology of the Bose Basin, South China. Science, 287, 1622-1626.
>
>
>

Humm...

There is a logical improbability in this line of speculation.

The Astralites and Indochinites have the same composition, and are dated at 800,000 years. They were formed in the same event. Yet what you now say is that the Indochinites fell 800,000 years ago, but the Australites fell 15,000 years ago.

They share the same strewnfield...

Very coincidental and quite unlikely.

And such an event would most certainly have ejected HUGE quantities of tektite glass in orbits around the sun which our planet would encounter shortly after and even today.

Besides, such an event as recent a 15,000 years would have left some traces in the soil samples returned by both the Luna and Apollo missions. And we would be finding an occasional tektite in the pile of NWA's or at Antartica, or even falling now and then.

No, I don't think the stone tools need to be re-dated, the data that the researchers say supports a 15,000 year fall date for the Australites needs to be re-evaluated.

Steve Schoner, AMS
http://www.geocities.com/american_meteorite_survey

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Received on Sun 13 May 2001 01:12:32 PM PDT