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Tektites (from Greek tektos, molten) are natural objects, up to a few centimeters in size, which — according to most scientists — have been formed by the impact of large meteorites on Earth's surface. Tektites are among the "driest" rocks, with an average water content of 0.005%. This is very unusual, as most if not all of the craters where tektites may have formed were underwater before impact. Also, partially melted zircons have been discovered inside a handful of tektites. This, along with the water content, suggests that the tektites were formed under phenomenal temperature and pressure not normally found on the surface of the Earth.

As the impact theory states, tektites cannot be found everywhere on Earth's surface. They are only found in four strewnfields, three of which are associated with known impact craters. Only the largest, geologically youngest tektite deposit in Southeast Asia, called the Australasian strewnfield, has thus far had no known impact crater associated with it. This is probably due to the fact that even very large impact structures are often not easy to detect. For example, since the Chesapeake Bay impact crater (today the largest known impact structure of the United States and associated with the North American tektite strewnfield) is covered by sediments, it was not detected until the early 1990s. Also, the bigger the strewnfield, the bigger the area to search for the crater. Since several new craters are identified every year, this is not really regarded as a problem by proponents of the impact theory, except for the expected Australasian crater, a feature that would be less than a million years old and thus easily visible. This crater, if it exists at all, has not been located.

The ages of tektites from the four strewnfields have been determined using radiometric dating methods. The age of Indochinites, a type of tektite found in Vietnam, was determined to be 700,000 Thousand years, which agrees well with the age determined using K-Ar dating method. Age similarities exist between tektites from the North American strewnfield and the Chesapeake Bay impact crater and between tektites from the Ivory Coast strewnfield and the Lake Bosumtwi-Crater.

The Indochinites seen in Vietnam have various shapes, such as spheres, ellipsoids, discs, dumbbells, and teardrops. They are10-40 mm long, 5-30 mm wide, 5-20 mm thick. Most specimens found are well-preserved, having fresh tar-like luster, with little abrasion or erosion. Their surfaces are filled with round pits of 0.50-4 mm in size and less than 1 mm in depth. Gutters of 2-6 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, and 1-3 mm deep, are common. Sculpturing lines and bubbles are commonly seen in the field. Many bubbles of 0.1-2 mm sizes are also visible under microscope in thin sections . However, bubbles are not filled with any materials, and no crystallized units are found, which is different from the surrounding volcanic rocks.

Below are some types of tektites, grouped according to the four known strewnfields, and their associated craters:

• European strewnfield (Nördlinger Ries, Germany, age: 15 million years):
  • Moldavites (Czech Republic, green)
• Australasian strewnfield (no associated crater identified, age 0.7 million years):
  • Indochinites (South East Asia, dark, mostly black (Vietnam,  Thailand)
• North American strewnfield (Chesapeake Bay impact crater, USA, age: 34 million years):
  • Bediasites (USA, Texas, black)
  • Georgiaites (USA, Georgia, green)
• Ivory Coast strewnfield (Lake Bosumtwi Crater, Ghana, age: 1 million years):
  • Ivorites (Ivory Coast, black)

Today, the terrestrial origin of tektites is accepted by many geochemical and isotopic studies (e.g. Faul H.(1966), Koeberl C.(1990)).

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