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Source of Australasian tektites: Investigating possible impact sites in Laos
Author(s) -
Schnetzler C. C.,
McHone J. F.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
meteoritics and planetary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.09
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1945-5100
pISSN - 1086-9379
DOI - 10.1111/j.1945-5100.1996.tb02055.x
Subject(s) - geology , ejecta , plateau (mathematics) , sedimentary rock , mesozoic , horizon , paleontology , geochemistry , structural basin , mathematical analysis , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , supernova , astronomy
— The site of an impact event that spread ejecta in the form of tektites and microtektites over ∼5 × 10 7 km 2 of the southern Pacific and Indian Ocean area has not yet been discovered. A number of lines of evidence point toward a source in eastern Indochina. From an examination of a digital topographic data set and Landsat imagery, we identified four candidate structures in southern Laos, and we visited these sites in 1995 February. No evidence of impact origin of these structures could be found; flat‐lying, undisturbed Mesozoic sedimentary rocks similar to those on Thailand's Khorat Plateau were found over the region. Small layered tektite fragments are relatively common in a lateritic horizon that is characterized by the presence of quartz pebbles. This scene is identical to the situation found several hundred kilometers to the southeast in Thailand. New tektite sites identified on this trip support a previous suggestion that there is a large region in southern NE Thailand and Laos that is rich in Muong Nong‐type (layered) tektites but seemingly devoid of the splash‐form type tektites.