[meteorite-list] The Moon - One Titanic Tektite?

From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2010 23:17:40 -0500
Message-ID: <4BF52C7DA27F4200B2FCAA0608503298_at_ATARIENGINE2>

A tektite is GLASS, not rock.

The Moon is ROCK, not glass.

I just ruined my reputation for writing long-
winded posts. Oh, wait, I don't want to do that.

Glass is molten (or vaporized) rock that cools
too quickly to reform in a crystal mineral
structure. Glass has been classified as an
amorphous liquid by most. Since a relatively
rapid cooling is required to make a glass, there
is an upper limit to the size of a melt. A large
body, astronomically large, could never cool
that quickly. You could get a very odd rock
body with a glass crust, quite unlike the Moon.

Actual tektites have extremely high silica
(silicon dioxide) content; the Moon does not
(by comparison to tektites). The elemental
bulk compositions of the Moon and of
tektites is quite different.

The elemental bulk compositions of tektites
vaguely matches a few terrestrial soils if you
allow for a lot of differential loss by volatilization
of some of the elements. Turning a rock or soil
or sand into a glass effectively erases a great
deal of information about the source material,
which is why people have been arguing about
tektites for 220 years and it shows little sign of
stopping.

And my last argument: if the Moon was a tektite,
it would be for sale on eBay, probably for its
"mystic" properties.


Sterling K. Webb
------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Galactic Stone & Ironworks" <meteoritemike at gmail.com>
To: "Meteorite List" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 10:14 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] The Moon - One Titanic Tektite?


> Hi Listees,
>
> I don't know if this thought has ever come up before in this way,
> but....
>
> Isn't the moon, by definition, one gigantic tektite since it was
> spalled off from the Earth during a catastrophic meteorite impact?
>
> If so, then every lunar meteorite is also a tektite.....of sorts.
>
> Best regards,
>
> MikeG
>
>
> --
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone & Ironworks Meteorites
> http://www.galactic-stone.com
> http://www.facebook.com/galacticstone
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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Received on Wed 14 Apr 2010 12:17:40 AM PDT