Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: paul.fr on 12/03/2007 09:45:39

Title: Moldovites
Post by: paul.fr on 12/03/2007 09:45:39

I notice soulsurfer is about, so a quick question before he dissapears.

How are moldovites formed? I have one in my small collection of meteorites and am just curious.

Title: Moldovites
Post by: Soul Surfer on 12/03/2007 10:04:00

I was not immediately familiar with moldovites

but googling that suggested moldavites  and this produced a lot of references

http://www.minresco.com/moldtek/moldinfo.htm

this is one of many.  They are a class of substances called Tektites (of which I am familiar)  and there is a source in Moldova  hence the name

When a big meteorite hits the earth it melts the rock around it and splashes are thrown out of the crater cooling very quickly and becoming like volcanic glass  however the materials are usually not the sorts of stuff that come out of volcanoes and can be identified as impact originated.

Title: Moldovites
Post by: paul.fr on 12/03/2007 10:07:30

many thanks, it was something i always meant to look up but one thing leads to another and.....It was the beautiful bottle green colour that attracted me, as opposed to the blackness of a tektite.