Współczesne obszary występowania mołdawitów – wnioski z eksperymentu transportowania ich przez Nysę Łużycką
Abstract
Modern areas of occurrence of moldavites – conclusions from their experimental transport across the Lusatian Neisse.
A b s t r a c t. Tektites in the sedimentary record are subject to many geological processes such as fluvial reworking. To observe the glass behaviour during reworking, an experiment was conducted in the Lusatia Neisse river where moldavites are found. It consisted in observing the progressive abrasion of some 500 tektites over reworking distances of 100, 200, 300, and 400 km respectively. The results clearly show that moldavites could survive reworking over a distance of several hundreds km. The decrease in weight was linear in relation to the distance travelled. Regardless of the initial shape, all tektites became rounded with a smooth surface after travelling 200 km. The experimental results suggest that European tektites were ejected from the Ries crater over distances reaching up to 600 km and were then reworked over short distances from the origin areas of the current substrewn fields.
A b s t r a c t. Tektites in the sedimentary record are subject to many geological processes such as fluvial reworking. To observe the glass behaviour during reworking, an experiment was conducted in the Lusatia Neisse river where moldavites are found. It consisted in observing the progressive abrasion of some 500 tektites over reworking distances of 100, 200, 300, and 400 km respectively. The results clearly show that moldavites could survive reworking over a distance of several hundreds km. The decrease in weight was linear in relation to the distance travelled. Regardless of the initial shape, all tektites became rounded with a smooth surface after travelling 200 km. The experimental results suggest that European tektites were ejected from the Ries crater over distances reaching up to 600 km and were then reworked over short distances from the origin areas of the current substrewn fields.