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The tektite problemSmall glassy pebbles, called tektites, are found in widely scattered locations around the world. These tektites appear much like volcanic glass obsidian, but their chemical composition is different from that of any terrestrial lava and they contain far less water and none of obsidian's characteristic microcrystals. No one has ever found the mother lode of a field of tektites. They cannot, therefore, be the product of terrestrial volcanism. Recently acquired knowledge about the moon's surface confirms earlier indications that tektites cannot be bits of lunar soil propelled to the earth by the impact of meteorites on the moon. According to one of two remaining possibilities tektites are bits of terrestrial sedimentary rock excavated by meteorites striking the earth's surface, melted by the heat of impact, and congealed into glass as they travel above the atmosphere to the scattered sites where they are found. The other possibility is that tektites are the remains of gobs of lava fired at the earth by volcanic activity on the moon.
Document ID
19780060369
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Okeefe, J. A.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Md., United States)
Date Acquired
August 9, 2013
Publication Date
August 1, 1978
Publication Information
Publication: Scientific American
Volume: 239
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
78A44278
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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