NO. 4 TEKTITE SPECIMENS — CLARKE AND CARRON 3 



out surface features. All photographs of the Martha's Vineyard tek- 

 tite show the complete object before removal of material for analysis. 

 Over half of the Empire, Ga., specimen has been consumed in experi- 

 mental studies, and plate I, A, shows the remaining portion of this 

 specimen. Plate 2 shows the front and back surfaces of this specimen 

 after it had been cut to remove a slice for study. The distance between 

 halves approximates the material that has been removed. 



Plates 5 and 6 are previously unpublished photographs of other 

 Georgia tektites. They were furnished to the authors by E. P. Hen- 

 derson and are included here as background material. Plate 5, A and 

 B, are photographs of a second Empire, Ga., specimen (also having 

 catalog number USNM 1396), a complete individual that is preserved 

 in the collection of the U. S. National Museum. A tektite from Plain- 

 field, Ga., belonging to G. A. Bruce is shown in plate 5, C and D. 

 Plate 6, B, shows a tektite found near Osierfield, Ga., lent by A. S. 

 Furcron, of the Georgia Geological Survey. Dimensions of these 

 tektites are given in table 1. 



Table i. — Approximate she and weight of specimens 



Length 



Length of perpendicular Maximum 



longest axis to longest axis thickness Weight 



Locality cm. cm. cm. g. Illustrated in — 



Empire, Ga. a ~6.5 ^3.5 ~i.o >2S PI. 2 



Empire, Ga 3-3 2.7 1.4 13.4 PI. 5, A, B 



Plainfield, Ga 3.5 2.9 0.9 11.2 PI. 5, C, D 



Osierfield, Ga 4.7 4.4 0.6 17.8 PI. 6, B 



Martha's Vineyard, 



Mass 5.3 3-9 1.0 17-8 PI. 3 



a Lengths given were estimated from photographs of cut specimen, and thickness was meas- 

 ured on remaining portion of specimen. 



The most striking feature of the four Georgia tektites is their 

 disklike shape ; three are nearly circular. These specimens are rather 

 uniformly covered with many shallow pits and grooves which produce 

 generally smooth surfaces and edges. The disk shapes and general 

 surface features are suggestive of the moldavites. Disk shapes are 

 known among moldavite specimens but are rare among the other tek- 

 tite groups (Suess, 1900; Barnes, 1940; Baker, 1959). 



The Martha's Vineyard specimen appears to be a sector of a 

 roughly circular disk about 3 inches in diameter. The smooth fracture 

 surfaces on the sides of the specimen imply that it has been broken 

 from a parent mass after formation of its surface features. The deeply 

 serrated edge of the Martha's Vineyard specimen is different from 



