The largest known tektite field may be linked to a purported 800,000-year-old impact crater buried under lava fields in Laos.
Taken together with evidence from Earth’s three other major strewn fields, the findings helped confirm that tektites form when a bolide slams into our planet with enough force to blast liquified chunks of Earth’s crust into the atmosphere. These chunks then harden into raindrop-, barbell- and ravioli-shaped particles as they fall back to the surface.
So far, researchers have linked three of the four major strewn fields with impact craters. The North American strewn field is tied to the Chesapeake crater in Virginia, the central European strewn field is associated with the Ries crater in Germany, and the Ivory Coast strewn field originates from the Bosumtwi crater in Ghana. The holdout is the Australasian strewn field, which is the largest known and covers about 10 percent of Earth’s surface.
Tektites are strong indicators of bolide impacts, but researchers also consider other geologic evidence. In this light micrograph, quartz crystals recovered about 20 kilometers southeast of the proposed location of the Australasian crater display fractures consistent with an impact.Scientists recently got a break in the case. Analyses of tektites found in Thailand and other geologic evidence as well as computer simulations suggest a probable source.
To a collector, the curiosities found around an impact crater are full of wonder and poetry. To a planetary scientist, these small pieces of evidence may yet open big windows into Earth’s geologic past.
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