TEKTITES AND THE LOST PLANET — STAIR 229 



TEKTITES, A KEY TO COSMOLOGICAL PROBLEMS 



Scientific study of the tektite glasses has been somewhat neglected 

 in meteoric investigations, principally because it was only recently 

 that their true origin had been established. It was long contended 

 that, as the glass tektites were so far removed from other meteorites in 

 composition, they could not be of the same origin. However, since 

 their durability greatly exceeds that of the softer glasses and their 

 geological associations indicate that they have landed on the earth in 

 showers during the past 50 million years (neither tektites nor other 

 meteorites have been found in any of the ancient geological forma- 

 tions), it appears reasonable to assume that only the more durable 

 types of glass could have survived the weathering of the ages. On the 

 basis of such an assumption, it would be possible for all types of glassy 

 meteorites, from the tektites to ordinary stony ones containing only 

 traces of glass, to exist. It might also have a bearing upon the abun- 

 dance of tektite material relative to that of other meteorites, which, 

 within certain areas, exceeds in tonnage that of all other types 

 combined. 



The complicated structure of tektite glasses still holds many of the 

 secrets relating to their formation in the parent lost planet. The study 

 of their physical and chemical characteristics together with research 

 in the production of similar glasses should, therefore, furnish valuable 

 information and thus become the key (the Rosetta stone) to the solu- 

 tion of some of the cosmological problems facing the astronomers, 

 geologists, and meteoriticists today by adding not only to our knowl- 

 edge of the origin of these glassy meteorites but to better understanding 

 of the formation of the solar system — even of the universe itself. 



REFERENCES 



Bai-dwin, Ralph E. 



1949. The face of the moon. Chicago. 

 Baknes, Virgil E, 



1940. North American tektites. Univ. Texas Publ. No. 3945, pp. 477-582. 

 BoissE, A. 



1850. Recherches sur I'histoire, la nature et origlne des aerolithes. 180 pp. 

 Brown, Harrison. 



1948. Meteorites, relative abundances, and planet structures. Sci. Month., 



vol. 67, pp. 383-389. 



1949. The composition of meteoric matter and the origin of meteorites. 



Science, vol. 109, pp. 251-254s 

 Brown, Harbison, and Patterson, Claire. 



1948. The composition of meteoric matter. III. Phase equilibria, genetic 



relationships and planet structure. Journ. GeoL, vol. 56, pp. 85-111. 

 Fenner, Charles. 



1949. Tektites in the South Australian Museum, with some notes on theories 



of origin. Trans. Roy. Soc. South Australia, vol. 73, pt. 1, pp. 7-21. 



