Microtektites and Glassy Microspherules in Loess: Their Discoveries and Implications

It is first in continental sediment-loess that 16 microtektites and 3 ablated glassy Si-Mg microspherules were found. They occur only in the upper layer of L8, a 40—70-cm horizon above the B/M boundary. The age of deposition is about 0.72 Ma. Microtektites in loess are usually sphere, speroid, kidney-form, tear-drop and irregular debris in shape. They are transparent and translucent, and some have the shade of green, amber and yellow in color. Their sizes range from 65 to 220μm. Most of microtektites were badly pitted and corroded, but there remain bubbles, cavities and scorious and flow microstructure in some ones. On the basis of their major oxide compositions, microtektites in loess may be divided into three chemical groups that are described as normal, bottle-green and high-aluminium microtektite. They are similar in chemical composition to microtektites in deep-sea cores. Geochemistry of trace elements show that the origin of microtektite is very complicated and their parent materials are from mu