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Plio‐Pleistocene microtektites reported from the Upper Tamiami Formation (Pinecrest beds) of Florida.


Oxytropidoceras

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It appears that people can find Plio‐Pleistocene microtektites 

associated with and inside closed clams of the Upper Tamiami

Formation (Pinecrest beds) of Florida. Maybe enterprising

fossil collectors and citizen scientists could look for and

find microtektites in other outcrops of Pinecrest beds.

 

The paper is:

 

Meyer, M., Harries, P.J. and Portell, R.W., 2019. A first report 

of microtektites from the shell beds of southwestern Florida. 

Meteoritics & Planetary Science.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/maps.13299

 

Blog post about micrometeorites in your house gutter

 

Can you Really Find Micrometeorites in Your Gutter? Well...

Phil Plait, Bad Astronomy. May 16, 2019

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/can-you-really-find-micrometeorites-in-your-gutter-well

 

Flecks of Extraterrestrial Dust, All Over the Roof

The New York Times, By By William J. Broad

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/science/space-dust-on-earth.html

 

Genge, M.J., Larsen, J., Van Ginneken, M. and Suttle, M.D., 2017. 

An urban collection of modern-day large micrometeorites: 

Evidence for variations in the extraterrestrial dust flux through 

the Quaternary. Geology, 45(2), pp.119-122. Open access

https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/45/2/119/195213/an-urban-collection-of-modern-day-large

 

Yours,

 

Paul H.

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Wow How exciting a discovery after the Hell Creek tektite discovery. Forgive my impulsiveness but I have to throw this out there. See my post 02/22/16 Bradenton Beach Shell Hunting page 3. The object is about 1/2 inch so not a micro. Any thoughts? (Sorry I don't know how to post a link to this post)

 

Also see Help ID 3/7/17 additional pictures and info plus comments. Note conchoidal fracture

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Oxytropidoceras  Thanks for posting this article. I probably would not have seen it otherwise. I contacted the lead author about my find. Will see if it leads anywhere.

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They look nice but I would hate to pick through several pounds of material that size range to find a few microtektites.

 

 

 

microsphere.JPG

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Hi All,

 

I am the primary author on the aforementioned microtektite paper, so please message me if you want a copy or have any questions.

 

There is a lot of potential for this type of work in the shell beds of FL. I very much support Oxytropidoceras's idea that citizen scientists would be great at collecting more of this material. All anyone would need is to collect a gallon ziplock bag's worth of bulk sediment anytime they are in a shell bed quarry. If any of you know of person/org I should get in contact about that, please let me know.

 

Al Dente, I totally agree that these would take forever to pick out of sediment! However, I didn't hand pick these out. The original study was in search of benthic forams and I was emptying my bulk sediment onto a stack of sediment sieves and letting them shake out for 5 or 10 mins (I was a fool-hardy undergrad!). The microtektite material stands out in sieved material.

 

Cheers,

 

Mike

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