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COMPARISON OF TEKTITE SPECIMENS FROM 



EMPIRE, GEORGIA, AND MARTHA'S 



VINEYARD, MASSACHUSETTS 1 



By ROY S. CLARKE, Jr.,* and MAXWELL K. CARRON 8 



(With Six Plates) 



INTRODUCTION 



The recent find of a tektite at Gay Head, Martha's Vineyard, Mass., 

 has been reported by Kaye, Schnetzler, and Chase (1961). This speci- 

 men, representing a possible new occurrence of tektites, was gener- 

 ously submitted by the finders to us for laboratory study. The 

 Martha's Vineyard tektite (USNM 2082) arrived when we were 

 completing study of a tektite from Empire, Ga. (USNM 1396), which 

 has been at the U. S. National Museum since 1938. A similarity be- 

 tween these two specimens was immediately suggested by their close 

 agreement in color, density, and magnetic properties. Further study 

 of the Martha's Vineyard tektite established that a truly remarkable 

 similarity does exist. This report presents new physical and chemical 

 data and photographs for both of these specimens. The possible sig- 

 nificance of the unexpected nature of these data and the ambiguous 

 conclusion to which they lead are discussed. Either this new group 

 of tektites has much more uniform properties than would be expected, 

 or else there is room to doubt their authenticity. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



The authors are indebted to a number of their colleagues who have 

 supported and contributed to the studies presented here. Most of 

 these workers are cited at appropriate places in the text. Frank E. 

 Senftle, Irving Friedman, and E. C. T. Chao, of the U. S. Geological 

 Survey, should receive special mention, as they have had an active in- 

 terest in this work since its inception. Their suggestions, criticisms, 

 and experimental observations are included below. Paul D. Low- 



1 Publication authorized by the Director, U. S. Geological Survey. 



2 U. S. National Museum, Smithsonian Institution. 

 8 U. S. Geological Survey, Washington 25, D. C. 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS, VOL. 143, NO. 4 



