impactite
Sign in to savethumb|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.
Article
10 sectionsContents
- Formation
- Characteristics
- Shocked rock
- Impact melts
- Tektites
- Impact breccias
- Examples of impactite
- See also
- References
- External links
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.
== Formation == When a large meteorite hits a planet, it can radically deform the rocks and regolith that it hits. The heat, pressure, and shock of the impact changes these materials into impactite. Only very massive impacts generate the heat and pressure needed to transform a rock, so impactites are created rarely.