Cataclysm at Meteor Crater

Discussion in 'Earth Science' started by paddoboy, Jul 26, 2016.

  1. paddoboy Valued Senior Member

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    Cataclysm at Meteor Crater: Crystal sheds light on Earth, moon, Mars
    July 26, 2016 by David Tenenbaum

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    Crystals extracted from a rubble pile collected a century ago by prospectors at Meteor Crater showed extreme temperatures and pressures during the impact that created the crater 49,000 years ago. Credit: Aaron Cavosie
    In molten sandstone extracted by prospectors a century ago, an international team of scientists has discovered microscopic crystals telling of unimaginable pressures and temperatures when a 12-kilometer asteroid formed Meteor Crater in northern Arizona some 49,000 years ago.


    The crystals, called zircons, have endured temperatures of 2,000 degrees Celsius or more, hot enough to melt any rock on Earth. In our planet's crust, such temperatures occur only briefly inside impact zones, says Aaron Cavosie, a visiting professor in the Wisconsin Astrobiology Research Consortium at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

    Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-07-cataclysm-meteor-crater-crystal-earth.html#jCp
     

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