Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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Libyan Desert Glass. As a boy, I lived in Newton, Massachusetts, about 10 miles from the Atlantic. Occasionally my parents would take us children to the beach. Much less frequently, I would walk the beach and find pieces of worn glass. Later, living in California, I would travel to towns Where waste was formerly and sadly dumped into the sea. Amongst the old pots and pans, batteries, car parts, and electronics, One would find pieces of water-worn bits of glass of many colors. Now, with an added interest in meteorites and tektites, I have even later learned of Libyan Desert Glass, 26,000 million years old. These random glass chunks of usually yellow, but sometimes dark or green, Were discovered in one fall in 1932--the specimens I have were collected in 2008. So, just how is this glass of the desert actually formed? Well, we have great heat and sand--a suspicious combination. And why is this glass found only in this particular desert? By chance, a meteorite fell in the Libyan Desert; Hot material; which on contact, melted the sand, forming glass 'blobs'! A second hypothesis states that glass was formed from an airburst. It appears this is one of the very few areas on a desert, except the Sahara, Where this has serendipidously occurred. What a wonderful find to enchant those outer space lovers. If this enthrals you, look up how a tektite is formed-- So subtlely different than the formation of this wonderful Libyan Desert Glass! Frank Maurer 26 August 2025 1615 Hours.