Impact event minerals

thumb|upright=1.25|Main diamond producing countries

Iridium is a chemical element; it has the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. This very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium), with a density of as defined by experimental X-ray crystallography. 191Ir and 193Ir are the only two naturally occurring isotopes of iridium, as well as the only stable isotopes; the latter is the more abundant. It is one of the most corrosion-resistant metals, even at temperatures as high as .

thumb|250px|Two splash-form tektites, molten terrestrial ejecta from a [[meteorite impact]]

thumb|An example of impactite on Earth (from Monturaqui impact crater, Chile) 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 impact. On Earth, impactites consist primarily of modified terrestrial material, sometimes with pieces of the original meteorite.

Moldavite () is a forest green, olive green or blue greenish vitreous silica projectile glass formed by a meteorite impact in southern Germany (Nördlinger Ries Crater) that occurred about 15 million years ago. It is a type of tektite and a gemstone. Material ejected from the impact crater includes moldavite, which was strewn across parts of Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria.

Coesite () is a form (polymorph) of silicon dioxide (SiO2) that is formed when very high pressure (2–3 gigapascals), and moderately high temperature (), are applied to quartz. Coesite was first synthesized by Loring Coes, Jr., a chemist at the Norton Company, in 1953.

Lechatelierite is silica glass, amorphous SiO2, non-crystalline mineraloid. It is named for Henry Louis Le Chatelier.

thumb|Pressure-temperature diagram for various forms of silicon dioxide, including stishovite (at top left)

natural quartz glass, probably created by a meteorite impact

thumb|Suevite from the Nördlinger Ries impact crater (type locality) thumb|upright|Portal to the town hall's stairway made of suevite in Nördlingen, Germany Suevite is a rock consisting partly of melted material, typically forming a breccia containing glass and crystal or lithic fragments, formed during an impact event. It forms part of a group of rock types and structures that are known as impactites.

thumb|right|Aerodynamically shaped australite; the button shape is caused by ablation of molten glass in the atmosphere during reentry. Australites are tektites found in Australia. They are mostly dark or black, and have shapes including discs and bowls that are not seen in other tektites. NASA used the shape of "flanged button" australites in designing re-entry modules for the Apollo program in the 1960s.

right|thumb|250px An Indochinite is a type of tektite. Tektites were ejected into the Earth's upper atmosphere by a meteorite impact and subsequently cooled to form the distinctive glass-like structure. Indochinites are distinctly dark black in contrast to the green of European moldavite tektites. It is estimated that these bodies of solidified magma are 700,000 years old. Indochinite tektites, as the name suggests, are found in the Indochinese peninsula, from Australia and the Pacific islands of Micronesia in the east and south, to China and Indonesia in the north and west. The largest indoch

natural desert glass found in Tasmania

Maskelynite is a glassy material found in some meteorites and meteorite impact craters. Typical samples are similar in composition to plagioclase feldspar, and revert to that mineral when melted and recrystallized. It was named after British geologist M.H.N. Story-Maskelyne.

Reidite is a rare polymorph of ZrSiO4 created when zircon experiences high pressure and temperature. Reidite is denser than zircon and has the same crystal structure as scheelite. All natural occurrences of reidite are associated with meteorite impact events.

Bediasite is a form or type of tektite, which is a body of natural glass formed from earth debris during meteorite impact events. It originates in an area in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas centered on the small town of Bedias which is northwest of Houston. They are found in about nine Texas Counties in an area of over . The largest specimen ever found is just over .