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Origin of tektites: Constraints from heavy noble gas concentrations
Author(s) -
Matsuda Junichi,
Matsubara Kayo,
Koeberl Christian
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
meteoritics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1945-5100
pISSN - 0026-1114
DOI - 10.1111/j.1945-5100.1993.tb00282.x
Subject(s) - noble gas , splash , atmosphere (unit) , volatiles , geology , gas pressure , mineralogy , chemistry , thermodynamics , petroleum engineering , physics , organic chemistry
— Heavy noble gas concentrations in tektites (splash‐form type) are considerably lower than those in impact glasses. This can not be explained only by high formation temperatures for tektites, as might be expected from low concentrations of water and most volatile elements in tektites, and indicates that tektites solidified in an atmosphere with an ambient pressure of much less than 1 atm. The heavy noble gas concentrations may be an indicator of the height to which tektites were carried by the impact before they solidified.