An Indochinite is a type 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 ...
. Tektites were ejected into the Earth's upper atmosphere by a meteorite impact and subsequently cooled to form the distinctive glass-like structure. Indochinites are distinctly dark black in contrast to the green of European
moldavite
Moldavite ( cs, vltavín) is a forest green, olive green or blue greenish vitreous silica projectile glass formed by a meteorite impact in southern Germany (Nördlinger Ries Crater) that occurred about 15 million years ago. It is a type of tekt ...
tektites. It is estimated that these bodies of solidified
magma
Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...
are 700,000 years old.
Indochinite tektites, as the name suggests, are found in the
Indochinese peninsula
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
, from Australia and the Pacific islands of
Micronesia
Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...
in the east and south, to China and Indonesia in the north and west. The largest indochinite is a Muong-Nong type tektite (which are layered tektites), which had a mass of 29.0 kg.
See also
*
Australasian strewnfield
The Australasian strewnfield is the youngest and largest of the tektite strewnfields, with recent estimates suggesting it might cover 10%–30% of the Earth's surface.Glass, B.P. and Wu, J., 1993. ''Coesite and shocked quartz discovered in the, Au ...
References
External links
Origin of Indochinite Tektites, by Virgil E. Barnes and Kaset Pitakpaivan. University of Texas, 1962
Impact event minerals
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