Muong Nong tektite

3D ModelNoAI

This Muong Nong tektite (mass 156 gram) belongs to the Australiasian tektite strewn field, formed 800,000 years ago during an impact in Indochina, and extending from southern China to Australia and the western Indian Ocean. These tektites are distinct from splash-form and aerodynamically shaped tektites. They are inhomogeneous, layered, and contain many gas vesicles and xenolithic inclusions and are often much larger than normal tektites (some weighing 24 kg). Their occurence is limited to an area of about 1000 km in Laos and Cambodia, probably directly around the impact crater. This crater was not known for a long time, but is probably buried under the Bulaven volcanic field in southern Laos. Muong Nong tektites are thought to be ballistic ejecta, which were still hot and plastic when they fell back to Earth. The layering, gas bubbles and inclusions, indicate the possible formation of overlapping “pools” of semi-molten and molten glass after landing on the Earth’s surface. (Courtesty: M.Langbroek)