Scientists Use Lasers to Simulate Shock Effects of Meteorite Impact on Silica
Monday, September 14, 2015 - 15:00
in Physics & Chemistry
Scientists used high-power laser beams at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to simulate the shock effects of a meteorite impact in silica, one of the most abundant materials in the Earth's crust. They observed, for the first time, its shockingly fast transformation into the mineral stishovite - a rare, extremely hard and dense form of silica.