Muong Nong type tektites are a very important group of tektites because they differ from splash-form tektites in several important characteristics (e.g., volatile element enrichment, major- and minor-element inhomogeneities, bubbles, inclusions, layered and sometimes brecciated structure). They seem to have experienced a lower peak temperature and pressure, thus preserving the precursor material much better than the splash forms do. They lead to important conclusions about the impact process, especially regarding the behaviour of the trace elements during impact melting. To date they have been found only within the Australasian strewn field. Finding such tektites within other strewn fields would be very important in proving a genetic relationship between them and splash-form tektites. Tow samples, one bediasite (from the North American strewn field) and one moldavite (from the Czechoslovakian strewn field), that show some Muong Nong features (layered structure) have been analyzed for major and minor as well as trace elements to test for the presence of chemical Muong Nong signatures. Although these three samples show a somewhat larger internal variation of major elements than normal splash-form tektites, this variation is not as large as that of typical Muong Nong tektites. Likewise, there is no enrichment in volatiles (at least no significant one), which is one of the most obvious characteristics of Muong Nong type. Thus these samples deviate to some extent from splash-forms, but do not constitute real Muon Nong tektites, so no genetic relationship between Muong Nong tektites and normal splash forms has yet been established beyond doubt. |