Moldavites from the Cheb Basin, Czech Republic

Other

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Cheb Basin, Moldavite Strewn Field, Moldavites

Scientific paper

Thirteen moladvites have been found on the surf side of the gravel beaches on the shore of the Jesenice water reservoir on the Odrava River. This spur lies about 1 250 m NW of the village Okrouhl at Cheb in Western Bohemia, Czech Republic, where only slightly rounded Pliocene gravels of the Vildgtejn Formation outcrop on the surface and form the bottom of the reservoir at this point. These gravels are also uncovered at the Tekaz Cheb gravel pit, 2 350 m to the NW from the find site. The bottom of the gravel pit and the basement of the moldavite-bearing gravel sands consist of the Miocene Cypris claystones. Red-brown andalusite and feldspar grains are typical minerals of the sandy gravels. The moldavites are lat in shape with deep sculpture, formed in a weakly acidic environment. Moldavites did not undergo prolonged transportation from the site of fall. Two samples have sharp grooves. The moldavites from the Cheb Basin are somewhat smoother to the touch and not as sharp as the moldavites from the Ceske Budejovice-Trebon area in Southern Bohemia. In a microscope, very fine secondary sculpture can be seen, probably formed in the water of the reservoir. The glass-matter is pure inside the samples and thus this is apparently repeated emphasizing of the original sculpture. The biggest specimens are No. 1 (5.44 g; 3 x 1.6 x 0.7 cm) and No. 8 (4.855 g; 3.2 x 1.7 x 0.5 cm). Their color ranges from bottle green to light bottle green to olive green or olive brown in two samples. In the shape, color, high content of bubbles and lechatelierite grains, density (rho = 2.34 - 2.38), refractive index (n = 1.4888 - 1.4936), and chemical composition of sample No. 5 (microprobe analysis: SiO2 - 78.70 wt. %, TiO2 - 0.35, Al2O3 - 10.13, FeO - 1.62, MnO - 0.12, MgO - 2.03, CaO - 3.11, Na2O - 0.42, K2O - 2.61) the moldavites of the Cheb Basin correspond to moldavites from the Ceske Budejovice-Trebon area in Southern Bohemia (1,2). The finds of moldavites in the Cheb Basin reflect the inhomogeneity in the entire moldavite strewn field. Because of the development of the river system in the Neogene and Pleistocene, it can be stated that the rivers in Bohemia did not allow communication between Southern Bohemia and the Cheb Basin. Thus, the finds of moldavites at Okrouhl correspond to a small independent partial strewn field - the Cheb area. In considering the overall moldavite strewn field, it can be mentioned that certain areas of congregation of moldavites with similar properties are encountered. These are the moldavites from the Radomilice area (most acidic, low alkalies; 1,2), moldavites from the Ceske Budejovice-Trebon area; (1,3) as well as the Cheb area and moldavites found in Austria (1,4) with frequent bubbles and lechatelierite and moldavites from Moravia and Lusatia (low CaO + MgO contents, relatively higher total iron and alumina; 1,5). References: [1] Bouska V. (1994) Moldavites, Stylizace, Praha. [2] Bouska V. (1990) Meteoritics, 25, 351. [3] Bouska V. and Cilek V. (1992) Vestnik, CGU, 67, 225, Praha. [4] Koeberl C. et al. (1988) Meteoritics, 23, 325. [5] Lange J. M. (1995) Schriftenreihe fur Geowissenschaften, 3, Berlin.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Moldavites from the Cheb Basin, Czech Republic does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Moldavites from the Cheb Basin, Czech Republic, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Moldavites from the Cheb Basin, Czech Republic will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-829898

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.