Shocked quartz
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Shocked quartz is a form of quartz that has a microscopic structure that is different from normal quartz. Under intense pressure, the crystalline structure of quartz is deformed along planes inside th
Photomicrograph of shocked quartz
Photomicrograph of a shocked quartz grain (0.13 mm across) from the Chesapeake Bay impact crater, showing shock lamellae
Pingualuit aerial 2007
Chicxulub crater
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The Chicxulub crater is an impact crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. The crater is named after the onshore inland community of Chicxulub Pueblo. It was formed slightly over 66 m
Shocked quartz
…the quartz lattice. Eugene Shoemaker showed that shocked quartz is also found inside craters created by meteor impact, such as the Barringer Crater and Chicxulub crater. The presence of shocked quartz supports that such craters were formed by impact, because a volcanic eruption would not generate the required pressure…
Artist's impression of the asteroid slamming into tropical, shallow seas of the sulfur-rich Yucatán Peninsula in what is today Southeast Mexico. The aftermath of the asteroid collision, which occurred approximately 66 million years ago, is believed to have caused the mass extinction of non-avian dinosaurs and many other species on Earth. The impact spewed hundreds of billions of tons of sulfur into the atmosphere, producing a worldwide blackout and freezing temperatures which persisted for at least a decade.
The center of the crater is near Chicxulub Puerto.
Stela in the main square of Chicxulub Puerto commemorating the impact