Australite

Australites are a rare type of tektite that resulted from an asteroid strike in Southeast Asia approximately 750 to 800 thousand years ago. Found in the Australasian strewn field along with Indochinites and Philippinites, Australites button tektites with perfectly formed flanges are extremely rare.

Australite button tektites formed when silica-rich sediment was blasted high into the atmosphere in a molten state. As the mass began to fall, molten glass would climb up the sides, producing flow ridges that eventually turned into high flanged walls, as seen here. As a result, flanged button tektites like this are an extremely aerodynamic shape, and were studied by NASA when designing their re-entry capsules for the Apollo missions.

Charles Darwin was the first person to describe Australites in western scientific literature when, in 1844, he published a few pages on a "volcanic bomb of obsidian" given to him in Sydney in 1836 (or possibly London in 1838) by explorer Thomas Mitchell. Although Darwin did not know it at the time, Australites are not of volcanic origin (as they are impact glasses resulting from asteroid strikes), nor are they obsidian, as again, they are not of volcanic origin and contain a much lower water content than volcanic glasses.

In addition to this lot, we are offering tektites from two of Earth's other recognized tektite strewn fields (in addition to Libyan Desert Glass): See Lots 116, 117, & 119.