Exogenic Fulgurites.
Type Locality Specimens. Absolutely Unique to this site. Once it's gone, it's gone.
Never heard the term? Don't feel bad. I didn't believe it when I saw it. The
full story is written up in Rocks & Minerals, Sep/Oct 2004, Vol. 79, No. 5, pp334-340. It's real. I came at it as a skeptic. I'm convinced. This
is the real deal, totally new to science.
A wayward exploration geologist stumbled upon a monster fulgurite tube near Elko, Nevada, weighing in at over 78
kilos with branches stretching some 3 meters in length that had spewed blobs of shining black molten glass. Strings
of glass up to 14.5 cm in length were literally hanging from the sagebrush!
So--- what's it doing in a tektite/impactite catalog? This stuff is so similar to Wabar glass and Irghizites that
it could easily be misidentified. The probability of it being lechatelierite doesn't help. What if it was found
in bits and pieces in the geologic record, like Chapadmalal and Chasico? I get sent bits of glass like this quite
frequently, and I didn't even know this was one of the naturally-occurring possibilities.
Most of the material was (is) kept in the private collections of the finder and his buddies, but one guy decided
to sell. This is all there is, from the published type locality. Amazing stuff! I bought all that was offered for
sale. This is type-locality material. All there is. One of a kind thus far reported on earth. I have 56 pieces.
When they are gone, that's the end of the material first described from this source and nowhere else! Any other
similar material to be found on this planet will have to reference THIS type locality material. THIS IS THE TYPE
LOCALITY, and unless the remaining finders change their minds, this is all that is expected to be available to
museums, academia, or collectors.
Click on the thumbnail below for a multiple-view blow-up. CLOSE the resulting
window to return to this page
email us at nlehrman@nvbell.net to order
 |
53.5 gms | This piece appears to be transitional, from the edge of the usual fulgurite tube to the surrounding spatter zone. Technically, this is likely the most important piece of the entire lot. As far a clues to the whole story goes, this has all the parts and some cool aesthetics as well. $250SOLD |
 |
26.1 gms | A gorgeous spatter accumulation. Check the underside photo to get a sense of the sequential build-up. $300 |
 |
22.4 gms | Thick and moderately vesiculated, this is a great specimen of the heavy spatter zone. $300 |
 |
21.5 gms | Certainly a museum-piece. Check out the detailed images. One of the best. $400SOLD |
 |
10.7 gms | This one caught my eye from the first moment, and may well wind up in our private collection. I'm still equivocating, but if you ask for it before I decide, you may get it. Aesthetically amazing. $300 |
 |
9.8 gms | Here is a piece of pure sculpture. A big green drop, little white and brick-red beads. A ropy stack of glossy black. I wish I could do it justice in a photo, but I can only apologize. One of the best. $350 |
 |
9.7 gms | If this lasts that long, I WILL try another photo. This is totally sweet, with a gracefull curved ear-shape that doesn't show well in the image. $200SOLD |
 |
9.6 gms | This one is cool, top and bottom. Check out the detailed photos. What more can I say? $ |
 |
7.6 gms | Here's one that likely formed draped over very irregular soil. This is a super specimen with a lot of character. $350 |
 |
6.9 gms | Gloriously glossy on both sides with a complete dolphin-shaped drop diving over the right end (relative to the image) $200 |
 |
6.2 gms | Here's another sculpture. A puddle of super glossy black with a perfect drop that looks like a seal on the beach. The glass has a hint of a carnival-glass patina. A very, very nice specimen. $200 |
 |
5.4 gms | Whoa!!! This one is next to impossible to photograph. Imagine a tadpole with a long unicorn horn. VERY three-dimensional, by far the most unusual of the lot in this respect.. Guaranteed to bring oohs and awws. $300SOLD |
 |
5.3 gms | Talk of Wabar! Here is a vesicular core of white melt encased in black glass. This is an academically important piece. The white core is probably a quartz pebble melted within an inch of its life ejected with the molten black glass. $150SOLD |
 |
4.0 gms | I've loved this piece from the first glance. Very symmetrical with multicolor ropy blobs. Gorgeous. Jewelry. One of a kind. I may not sell it. $250SOLD |
 |
2.8 gms | How cool? A fused cluster of about 5 droplets. Check it out. $150SOLD |
 |
2.4 gms | Take your favorite Irghizite and multiply it by 5 or 10. Totally glossy, neat ropy form. A fine piece. $125SOLD |
 |
2.2 gms | This is another one that was hard to photograph. This has very aesthetically sculptural appeal,
sort of a beaded slug (sounds fine, huh? So I like slugs, okay?) $100SOLD |
 |
2.0 gms(a) | Very nice, with the grace of some Arabic script. $100SOLD |
 |
2.0 gms(b) | Note the inclusion of Wabar-like frothy white quartz in the right end. A super glossy cylindrical fragment. $70SOLD |
 |
1.5 gms(a) | Fused splatters resembling a flight of birds. Superb piece! |
 |
1.5 gms(b) | A splatted droplet like melted tar! Beautiful. |
 |
1.4 gms(a) | Here's a sweet jack-straw pile of curving cylindrical bits! $95SOLD |
 |
1.4 gms(b) | Inverted, this one will stand on its legs like some sort of prehistoric animal. Very cool. $75SOLD |
 |
1.3 gms | Mickey Mouse? Two big beads, one with a tail make the body. Two tiny spheres make ears. Superb piece! $75SOLD |
 |
1.2 gms(a) | Super-gloss, neat form. $60SOLD |
 |
1.2 gms(b) | One of the ropy glass bits that draped over the sagebrush. $50SOLD |
 |
1.2 gms(c) | A pipe anyone? $50SOLD |
 |
1.1 gms | A cylindrical bit found on the local sagebrush. $45SOLD |
 |
0.9 gms | VERY nice double-tailed teardrop! $40SOLD |
 |
0.8 gms | Another super-glossy double-tailed teardrop. $40SOLD |
 |
0.7 gms(a) | Two fused teardrops. Very sweet little grouping. $35SOLD |
 |
0.7 gms(b) | Here's some neat symmetry on a draped glass stringer! $30SOLD |
 |
0.7 gms(c) | A true spiral! $35SOLD |
 |
0.6 gms(a) | Scale this one up, cast it in bronze, and put it in the city park! |
 |
0.6 gms(b) | How's this for neat? $25SOLD |
 |
0.6 gms(c) | My wife says we can't sell this one. |
 |
0.5 gms | Our longest "wire" at 11.5 cm. $35SOLD |
 |
0.4 gms(a) | Here's a fine, complete droplet with two tails. $30Sold |
 |
0.4 gms(b) | A strand of glass draped over the sage. $25SOLD |
 |
0.4 gms(c) | Complex droplet. $18SOLD |
 |
0.4 gms(d) | Cylindrical wire 53 mm long. $18SOLD |
 |
0.4 gms(e) | Amazing long wire. 115 mm long. $20SOLD |
 |
0.4 gms(f) | Irregular droplet with draped tail. $15SOLD |
 |
0.4 gms(g) | Wabar? Droplet. $15SOLD |
 |
0.3 gms(a) | Spicule. $12SOLD |
 |
0.3 gms(b) | Tailed flake. $8SOLD |
 |
0.3 gms(c) | Wire, 52,5 mm $8SOLD |
 |
0.3 gms(d) | Tailed droplet $8SOLD |
 |
0.3 gms(e) | Neat little Wabar-like bead. $8SOLD |
 |
0.2 gms(a) | Very nice tailed bead! $10SOLD |
 |
0.2 gms(b) | Unpopped popcorn! $8SOLD |
 |
0.2 gms(c) | Droplet. $6SOLD |
 |
0.1 gms(a) | Tri-strand spicule. $5SOLD |
 |
0.1 gms(b) | VERY Cool complete tiny wire! $15SOLD |
 |
0.1 gms(c) | Fused droplets of transparent pale green glass! $8SOLD |
 |
0.05 gms | Captain Hook's hook, greatly miniaturized. $5SOLD |
To return to the TektiteSource.com home page, click
on this text.