[meteorite-list] Tektite Surface Question- Please Zap if I'm out of place

From: Norm Lehrman <nlehrman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 17:30:54 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <792903.10690.qm_at_web81013.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

Mike & list,

If I take your "machined and polished like flat"
wording literally, I don't think I've ever seen
anything (natural) where I would use such words. Maybe
yours are machined and polished. Feel free to send me
some photos of what you are talking about.

The elongate hollows are likely the interiors of
bubbles. Perhaps your "flats" are the same, but it
would be very uncommon for them to approach truly
flat, as in "planar".

If we ignore the idea of planar and just focus on
ornamentation contrasts, one commonly sees "bald"
spots on splatforms, which seem quite clearly to be
thin patches of brittle skin that have popped off of
variably plastic interiors on impact.

Also, particularly with the "onion" type of splatted
tear, there is usually a marked contrast between an
unpitted, stretched upper surface and a deeply pitted
base. The latter resembles the texture of molten
metal poured onto a very wet surface, where the
resulting steam pockets pit the base. I've often
wondered if this is a clue that tektites fell during a
very widespread rainy (monsoon) season when most of
southeast Asia was wet. This might also help to
explain why we never see anything embedded in the
impact surface of a plastic tektite.

Cheers,
Norm
http://TektiteSource.com


--- Mike Groetz <mpg444 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Good Morning-
> I understand this is a meteorite group- but may
> I
> please ask a tektite question to get some opinions?
> Many of the tektites I own seem to have almost
> "machined and polished like flat" surfaces on them.
> Some have elongated hollow areas- again smooth
> inside.
> It is almost like the molten glass set up on smooth
> flat or elongated surfaces.
> The balance of the same tektites' surfaces are
> worn and pitted from reentry, weathering, etc..
> In other words- these areas look totally out of
> place to me but seem to be common in some of mine
> and
> in photos that I have seen.
> Understanding that tektites are of questionable
> origin and formation to begin with- would any of you
> please offer suggestions as to what you think may
> cause these out of place surfaces?
>
> Thank You
> Mike Groetz
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam
> protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
Received on Mon 30 Apr 2007 08:30:54 PM PDT