Fragmentation and hydration of tektites and microtektites

Details Fragmentation and hydration of tektites and microtektites Fragmentation and hydration of tektites and microtektites

May 1997

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997m%26ps...32..333g&link_type=abstract

Meteoritics, vol. 32, pages 333-341

Physics

14

Scientific paper

An examination of data collected over the last thirty years indicates that the percent fragments versus whole splash forms in the Cenozoic microtektite strewn fields increases towards the source crater (or source region). We propose that this is due to thermal stress produced when tektites and larger microtektites fall into water near the source crater while still relatively hot (> 1150 oC). We also find evidence (low major oxide totals, frothing when melted) for hydration of most of the North American tektite fragments and microtektites found in marine sediments. High-temperature mass-spectrometry indicates that these tektite fragments and microtektites contain up to 3.8 wt% H2O. The H2O-release behavior during the high-temperature mass-spectrometric analysis, plus high Cl abundances (~ 0.05 wt%), indicate that the North American tektite fragments and microtektites were hydrated in the marine environment (i.e., the water was not trapped solely on quenching from a melt). The younger Ivory Coast and Australasian microtektites do not exhibit much evidence of hydration (at least not in excess of 0.5 wt% H2O); this suggests that the degree of hydration increases with age. In addition, we find that some glass spherules (with < 65 wt% SiO2) from the upper Eocene clinopyroxene-bearing spherule layer in the Indian Ocean have palagonitized rims. These spherules appear to have altered in a similar fashion to the splash form K/T boundary spherules. Thus our data indicate that tektites and microtektites that generally contain > 65 wt% SiO2 can undergo simple hydration in the marine environment, while impact glasses (with < 65 wt% SiO2) can also undergo palagonitization.

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