Georgiaite is a rare form of

tektite Tektites (from grc, τηκτός , meaning 'molten') are gravel-sized bodies composed of black, green, brown or grey natural glass formed from terrestrial debris ejected during meteorite impacts. The term was coined by Austrian geologist Franz ...

found only in the state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in the southeastern United States. These tektites are found in part of the North American

strewn field The term strewn field indicates the area where meteorites from a single fall are dispersed. It is also often used for the area containing tektites produced by large meteorite impact.''Tektites in the geological record: showers of glass from the sky ...

coming from what is believed to be the

Chesapeake Bay impact crater The Chesapeake Bay impact crater is a buried impact crater, located beneath the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, United States. It was formed by a bolide that struck the eastern shore of North America about 35.5 ± 0.3 million years ago, in the late Eoc ...

in the late

Eocene epoch The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "daw ...

over 35 million years ago. Two strewn fields and tektite groups are currently associated with this impact: the black bediasites in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and the green georgiaites in Georgia. Georgiaite has been found only in the eastern part of central Georgia with only between 1,000 and 2,500 known specimens . They are most commonly found as splash-form tektites. Georgiaite 1

Characteristics

Georgiaite specimens that have been found typically have a round shape and pock marked surfaces caused from the extreme conditions of its formation. Georgiaite most commonly is translucent with an olive green color. The size of Georgiaite can vary but most samples collected average around 2 inches at most. Georgiaite, like other

s, are

silicate In chemistry, a silicate is any member of a family of polyatomic anions consisting of silicon and oxygen, usually with the general formula , where . The family includes orthosilicate (), metasilicate (), and pyrosilicate (, ). The name is al ...

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

and most closely resemble

obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...

. Unlike other North American tektites, Georgiaite contains

silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one ...

and

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosphe ...

while showing no traces of any other major elements.

Locations

Georgiaite has been confirmed to be found only in central and eastern counties in

. The majority of all Georgiaite that has been collected has been from

Bleckley County, Georgia Bleckley County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,583. The county seat is Cochran. History The county was named for Logan Edwin Bleckley, a soldier and Just ...

and

Dodge County, Georgia Dodge County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2010, the population was 21,796. The county seat is Eastman. Dodge County lies in the Historic South and Black Belt region of Georgia, an area that w ...

but other surrounding counties have also found samples in smaller quantities.

Collections

There are several known collections of Georgiaites used for educational purposes, geological study, and for the public to view. One such collection can be found at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in

Washington, D.C ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. There is also a large donated collection at the

Fernbank Museum of Natural History Fernbank Museum of Natural History, in Atlanta, Georgia, is a museum that presents exhibitions and programming about natural history. Fernbank Museum has a number of permanent exhibitions and regularly hosts temporary exhibitions in its expansi ...

Atlanta, GA Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

References

Impact event minerals Glass in nature {{Glass-material-stub