Ruqayyah Snyder
Tektites are small, pebble-like glassy objects of Earth material that have been melted by meteorite impact, splashed up into our atmosphere, and fallen back to Earth. They are found in widely separated fields around the world, the largest of which covers most of Australia. This field is known as the Australasian strewnfield, which stretches from southern China to Australia. Australian tektites, also known as Australites, have been found across southern Australia, mainly below 25 degrees latitude, particularly within an east-west belt extending over the Northern Territory, Queensland, most of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and the southern parts of Western Australia.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Location | Across Southern Australia, below 25 degrees latitude |
| Specific locations | Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and Western Australia |
| Specific sites | Port Campbell in western Victoria, Myrtle Springs, Mount Victory Well, Leigh Creek, North Flinders Ranges, Flinders Ranges, Murray- Darling River region of New South Wales, Lake Boga, Mt Darwin crater near Queenstown, Tasmania |
| Weight | Up to 0.4 kg |
| Shapes | Spheres, ovals, boats, dumbbells, teardrops, flanged buttons, discs, bowls, plates, and other small forms |
| Origin | Asteroid or comet impact on Earth; some theories suggest a lunar origin |
| Age | 300,000 years to 35 million years |
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What You'll Learn
Tektites in South Australia
Tektites are small, pebble-like glassy objects of Earth material that have been melted by meteorite impact. They are named according to the region where they are found, and those in Australia are called Australites. Tektites have been found across southern Australia, mainly below 25 degrees latitude, particularly within an east-west belt extending over the Northern Territory, Queensland, most of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and Tasmania, and the southern parts of Western Australia.
Australian tektites have been known and used as artefacts and ritual objects by Aboriginal Australians for over 30,000 years. The first Australian tektite was found by Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1836 in the Murray-Darling River region of New South Wales, and was given to Charles Darwin when he visited Sydney on the Beagle. However, this claim has been disputed, and it is now believed that Mitchell found the specimen on the shores of Lake Boga in what is now Victoria, and gave it to Darwin a year later during Mitchell's visit to England.
Tektites are often found in shallow lakes or depressions, and are now commonly found on claypans and shallow drainage depressions. They are geologically young, with a range of about 300,000 years to 35 million years. They commonly take on distinctive shapes like teardrops, dumbbells, and strangely flanged buttons.
In South Australia, tektites have been found in the Flinders Ranges, including at Myrtle Springs and Mount Victory Well, Leigh Creek.
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Australites in Western Victoria
Tektites, or Australites, are small, pebble-like glassy objects of Earth material that have been melted by meteorite impact, splashed up into our atmosphere, and fallen back to Earth. They are mostly dark or black and have distinctive shapes, including teardrops, dumbbells, and flanged buttons. They are named based on their geographical location, with Australites being found in Australia.
Australites have been found across southern Australia, mainly below 25 degrees latitude. They are particularly prevalent in an east-west belt extending over the Northern Territory, Queensland, most of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and the southern parts of Western Australia.
In Western Victoria, Australites have been discovered in Kanagulk, Telangatuk East, and Toolando. Well-preserved shapes are also found near Port Campbell in this region. The composition of Australites varies, with those found in Western Victoria containing a high silica content.
The first Australian tektite was discovered by Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1836 in the Murray-Darling River region of New South Wales. However, there is ambiguity surrounding this claim, and it is more likely that the specimen was found on the shores of Lake Boga in what is now Victoria during his third expedition in 1836. Mitchell gave the tektite to Charles Darwin a year later during a visit to England.
Aboriginal Australians have used Australites as artefacts and ritual objects for over 30,000 years. The Diyari group termed Australites ooga ("staring eyes") and used them as sacred objects or cutting tools.
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Aboriginal artefacts and ritual objects
Tektites, small, pebble-like glassy objects of Earth material, have been known and used as artefacts and ritual objects by Aboriginal Australians for over 30,000 years. They are believed to be formed when Earth material is melted by meteorite impact, splashed up into our atmosphere, and fallen back to Earth again under gravity. They often acquire aerodynamic shapes when they partially melt on their return journey.
In Australia, tektites have been found across southern regions, mainly below 25 degrees latitude, particularly within an east-west belt extending over Northern Territory, Queensland, most of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and the southern parts of Western Australia.
Aboriginal rituals and ceremonies are equally important, with some ceremonies serving as rites of passage for young people transitioning into adulthood. Most ceremonies combine dance, song, rituals, body decoration, and costumes. Smoking ceremonies, involving the burning of various native plants to produce smoke, are believed to have cleansing properties and the ability to ward off unwanted spirits. Burial ceremonies are also significant, with the primary burial involving laying the corpse on an elevated wooden platform and the secondary burial involving painting the bones with red ochre before their final dispersal.
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Tektites in the Murray-Darling River region
Tektites are small, pebble-like glassy objects of Earth material that have been melted by meteorite impact, splashed up into our atmosphere, and fallen back to Earth under gravity. They are often found strewn about on the ground in widely separated "fields" around the world, the largest of which covers most of Australia.
The Murray-Darling Basin is a large geographical area in the interior of southeastern Australia, covering more than 1 million square kilometres. It includes six of Australia's seven longest rivers and covers around one-seventh of the Australian landmass. The Basin is formed by the drainage basin of the tributaries of the Murray River, Australia's longest river, and the Darling River, a right tributary of the Murray and Australia's third-longest river. The two principal rivers of the Basin, the Murray and the Darling, bring water from the high ranges in the east, carrying it west and then south through long, flat, and dry inland areas.
The commonly held view is that the first Australian tektite was found by Sir Thomas Mitchell in 1836 in the Murray-Darling River region of New South Wales and given to Charles Darwin when he visited Sydney on the Beagle. However, this theory has been questioned due to ambiguities and inconsistencies in timing and geographical details. A more likely scenario suggests that Mitchell found the specimen on the shores of Lake Boga in what is now Victoria during his third expedition in 1836 and gave it to Darwin a year later during his visit to England.
Australian tektites have been found across southern Australia, mainly below 25 degrees latitude, particularly within an east-west belt extending over the Northern Territory, Queensland, most of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and Tasmania, and the southern parts of Western Australia.
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Tektites in Tasmania
Tektites, small, pebble-like glassy objects of Earth material, have been found in certain parts of the world, spread over large areas called strewn fields. Tektites are made of opaque to translucent glass, which is usually green, brown, grey, yellow-grey or black in colour. Tektites are named based on their geographical location.
Tasmanites are tektites found in Tasmania, a regional form of australite, the most common type of tektite. They are often found in literature under the name australites, along with which they are included in a very broad category of tektites, originating from the largest Australasian tektite strewnfield on earth. In the northern part of the scatter field, australites partially overlap and connect with part of the range of indochinites, and on the southern border, they are present under the name tasmanites.
Tasmanites were found in considerable quantities in an area of about 410 km² south of Queenstown in the vicinity of Mount Darwin and were called "Darwin glass". They are often opaque and have a dark brown, brownish-greenish or almost dull black colour. The Mt Darwin crater near Queenstown, Tasmania, has molten glass ('Darwin glass') very much like tektites, but it has probably not travelled through our atmosphere.
Charles Darwin collected tektite samples during stops in Tasmania in 1836. He acquired and collected a small collection of local black glass. He discovered hollow balls of black glass, little larger than a walnut, on the ground during his brief stay in Tasmania.
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Frequently asked questions
Tektites, or Australites, can be found across southern Australia, mainly below 25 degrees latitude. They are often found in an east-west belt extending over the Northern Territory, Queensland, most of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and the southern parts of Western Australia.
Tektites are small, black or green blobs that resemble hardened bits of asphalt. They are glassy stones about the size of walnuts and often take on distinctive shapes like teardrops, dumbbells, and oddly shaped buttons.
Yes, tektites are found in certain parts of the world, spread over large areas called strewn fields. The three major areas are Southeast Asia (especially Thailand, the Philippines, and Laos), Australasia, and the Caribbean-North America.
Tektites are formed when terrestrial debris is ejected during the formation of an impact crater. They are created when an asteroid or comet enters the Earth's atmosphere at a high velocity, causing the Earth's crust to melt and be ejected out of the atmosphere.
Tektites are geologically young, with an age range of about 300,000 years to 35 million years. The Australasian strewn field, which includes Australia, has an estimated age of 610,000 to 750,000 years.
