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- January 23, 2013, our local paper ran an article about the tektites found in Dry Creek Valley around Healdsburg, California, just 20 miles from my house.
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- What in the world are tektites?
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- They are rocks, but not from our world. They are the debris from an asteroid impact that hit the earth and splashed debris up in the atmosphere. When the rocks came down they were the size of olives. And, they were strewn over thousands of square miles.
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- Tektites are a combination of the meteorite that impacted the earth and the molten earth that melted in the impact and splashed into the atmosphere. When they are found they are always part of a “strewn field” of pebbles covering thousands of square miles.
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- Not all meteorites produce tektites. Conditions have to be just right. Only 4 other locations in the world have been studied as a strewn field of tektites. The tektites in Dry Creek Valley are dated from a meteorite impact 2,800,000 years ago. ( Request Review #1554 to learn about asteroids that are the source of these meteors. )
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- The impact crater for the Healdsburg tektites has not been found. It had the kinetic energy of a one mile diameter asteroid traveling at 30,000 miles per hour. It takes that much energy to melt the earth and splash it high into the atmosphere.
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- The largest tektite was the size of a tennis ball, most were the size of olives, the smallest are microscopic found in the sediments of the ocean.
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- Tektites are unique because their composition is part asteroid and part earth crust. The two are melted together. Meteorites are asteroids or parts of asteroids that do not get burned up in the atmosphere and make it to the surface of the Earth.
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- The 4 other major impacts containing strewn fields of tektites are:
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------------ (1) Australia, 780,000 years old. Tektites found there and in South East Asia and the Philippines all from the same impact that was never found.
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-------------- (2) Germany, Nordliger Ries impact crater that was dated to be 15,000,000 years old.
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--------------- (3) Ivory Coast, Africa, Impact in Ghana is 1,000,000 years old.
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-------------- (4) Chesapeake Bay impact, 34,000,000 years old with tektites found in Texas and Georgia.
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- The Dry Creek Valley tektites have not been linked to a crater. The crater would be miles in diameter. The tektites are scattered over thousands of square miles. There would be billions of these molten pebbles created in this splash.
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- Tektites have been collected by Dry Creek Valley residents for decades. They are the perfect size for sling shots. They are frequently unearthed by grape growers plowing their fields. The Dry Creek Tektites are composed of silicon and potassium covered with pits and striations from melting and freezing. Over 4,000 have been found between Warm Springs Dam and the Russian River. A Healdsburg geology professor has personally collected over 1,500 tektites himself and he is still searching for more. He wants to learn the full size of the “strewn field” that will tell him a lot about the meteorite impact.
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- Most tektites are 65% silica.
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- The tektites are dated using Potassium-Argon ,and , Argon - Argon isotope techniques from radioactive decay
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- Most meteorites do not create tektites. Conditions have to be just right, to melt the earth, to jettison it into the atmosphere, to freeze and rain down as pebbles. You would have had to have been there.
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(1) To learn more request Reviews #523, #719, #547, #1017, #1019 the Sudbury Asteroid.
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RSVP, please reply with a number to rate this review: #1- learned something new. #2 - Didn’t read it. #3- very interesting. #4- Send another review #___ from the index. #5- Keep em coming. #6- I forwarded copies to some friends. #7- Don‘t send me these anymore! #8- I am forwarding you some questions? Index is available with email upon request. Some reviews are at http://jdetrick.blogspot.com Please send feedback, corrections, or recommended improvements to: jamesdetrick@comcast.net. ---- “Jim Detrick” -- www.facebook.com, -- www.twitter.com, -- 707-536-3272 Wednesday, January 23, 2013
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