Impactite is rock created or modified by one or more impacts of a meteorite. Impactites are considered metamorphic rock, because their source materials were modified by the heat and pressure of the im
An example of impactite on Earth (from Monturaqui impact crater, Chile)
An example of impact glass (Darwin glass) from the Pleistocene, near Darwin Crater, Tasmania
Impact breccia from the Kara impact structure in Russia
Alga crater on Mars is a possible site for preserved ancient life, after detection of an impact glass deposit.
Glass is an amorphous solid. Because it is often transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window panes, tableware, and optics. Some
Impactite
…cools it forms a solid known as an impact melt. If the liquid solidifies quickly before the atoms arrange into a crystal lattice, it forms an impact glass. Impact glass can be dark brown, almost black, and partly transparent. Sometimes, the cooled liquid does form a crystal structure. In that case, it…
A piece of volcanic obsidian glass
Moldavite, a natural glass formed by meteorite impact, from Besednice, Bohemia