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Henbury Impactite (Tekite) History of the Henbury impactite glass: The Henbury meteorite craters were first found in 1931 in Northern Territory, Australia. A series of 12 craters which were formed when a meteorite hit the earth's surface ~4,700 years ago. The Henbury meteorite, weighing several tons and accelerating to over 40,000 km per hour, disintegrated before impact and the fragments formed the craters. This meteorite impact was like a shotgun blast, with many large pieces hitting the ground in close proximity. I visited the craters in Australia in August of 2008 and collected some of the impactite specimens. Classification Data: The Henbury meteorite is an Iron, medium Octahedrite (IIIA). The impactite glass which is for sale here, not the meteorite, was formed during the creation of the crater by the incredible energy released in the explosions which melted surface rock material into a vesicle-filled glass called impactite. This is a common feature proving the meteoritic nature of larger craters, especially long after the meteorite material has weathered away. Impactite, being glassy, does not weather like iron meteorites do. The impactite contains molten droplets of the nickel-iron meteorite inside, visible when cut and polished. Henbury impactite is quite rare, in the many years of dealing meteorites, I have never seen it for sale until now. Perhaps the reason is that the craters are a conservation park in Australia, and removing material from the park is forbidden. I found many pieces of the impactite in a creekbed outside of the park boundary and since the impactite is a tektite material and not a meteorite, it is not illegal to remove from Australia like meteorites are without permits.
The Henbury impactite glass is very fresh, at ~5000 years old, compared to the ~100,000 year age of the Monturaqui impactite. While very similar, clearly the Henbury impactite is much blacker, and more vesicles are visible. Below are photos of the Henbury park, and information boards there.
Above is a photo of myself, Michael Farmer at the entrance to the Henbury Meteorite Craters park, August, 2008.
Above you can see the three large main craters.
Below are photos of the park information signs and a piece of impactite on the surface as found.
Seen above is a piece of the Henbury impactite as found. This is NOT the piece for sale here, just a photo of a specimen. Click here to get more information about the Henbury Craters from the Australian government. Henbury Meteorite Craters Conservation Park website This offering consists of a beautiful complete piece. This piece weighs 4.81 grams. The scale cube in the photo measures 1 cm, and is for measurement only, not included in the auction. I am also featured in Fortune Small Business magazine. Fortune Small Business Magazine
Buyer to pay $2.00 shipping worldwide.
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