Tektite - Rough Specimen

Tektites may appear at first glance to be just normal rocks, but these small space specimen are far from ordinary.  Every tektite chunk is formed from the debris produced by meteorite impacts!  Although the debris is terrestrial, meaning that the materials are derived from our planet, this material can only be transformed into tektite through meteorite impact - due to the extreme conditions of meteor impact, terrestrial rocks and sediment are melted and/or vaporized, and thrown out to the atmosphere from the crater, where the molten material cools, forming tektites that fall back to Earth, often hundreds or thousands of miles from the impact site.  There are other theories on tektite formation, but this particular one remains the most widely accepted.  Tektites can be found primarily in Australia, Central Europe, the Ivory Coast, and North America.

Take home the result of geological and astronomical process as they collide to form the "rock" you see before you.  Makes an excellent gift, and an exciting conversation piece given the context in which the tektite comes about.  Great to have around science classrooms to get students interested in geological processes.

Features:

• "Rock" formed from meteor impacts
• Has the superficial appearance of obsidian or other volcanic rocks
• Great gift or classroom specimen
• About 1" in length