Moldavite

Moldavite Rock Professor Image

Moldavite is a type of TEKTITE, a natural glass rock with rounded or irregular shapes and pitted or wrinkled surfaces. The Impact Theory states that TEKTITES may be fused glass that formed during an impact of a meteor with layers of rock on the Earth's surface. The TEKTITE contains properties from both the meteor and the Earth crust at the impact site.

MOLDAVITE is a jewelry-quality Tektite, stemming from a meteorite that collided with earth approximately 14.7 million years ago and created the Ries crater in Germany. Moldavites are found in a "strewnfield" centered around Moldavia in former Czechoslovakia.

Chemistry: mostly silica glass with impurities of magnesium, iron and other elements. ♦ Class: mineraloids ♦ Transparency: opaque ♦ Luster: vitreous to dull ♦ Fracture: conchoidal ♦ Crystal system: amorphous ♦ Moh's hardness: 5-6 ♦ Color: green, black or yellow ♦ Other Characteristics: probably associated with meteorite impacts ♦ Localities: include Moldavian and Bohemia regions of Eastern Europe (in the Czech Republic)

Featured collection

View all