Abstract
MR. CHAPMAN'S theory of the origin of tektites, which is explained in detail in his book “Open-Air Studies in Australia” (1929), is one of the many contributions to this problem, and was mentioned in my article. But no tektites (aerial fulgurites) have been picked up after the discharge of lightning through dust-storms. On the other hand, bodies with a very close resemblance to tektites have been collected around the meteorite craters at Henbury in Central Australia and at Wabar in Arabia—at Henbury for a distance of a mile from the main crater. ‘Bombs’ of molten silica must have been ejected from the craters by the violent gaseous explosions, and spinning through the vapours they collected condensed silica with some iron and nickel on their surface. A test for nickel in australites will help to decide between the rival theories.
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SPENCER, L. Origin of Tektites. Nature 131, 876 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/131876b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/131876b0
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