The Crystal Circle
Specimen: Standard Gallery: Standard
Opal: Rough and Cut
Opal: Rough and Cut
Shoa Province, Ethiopia
Heulandite with Stilbite
Heulandite with Stilbite
Jalgon, Maharashtra State, India
Corundum Var. Sapphire
Corundum Var. Sapphire
Balangoda, near Ratnapura, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka
Heulandite with Stilbite
Heulandite with Stilbite
Jalgon, Maharashtra State, India
Diopside
Diopside
Merelani Hills, Lelatema Mtns., Arusha Region, Tanzania
Opal var. Hyalite
Opal var. Hyalite
San Luis Potosi, Mexico
Tektite var. Libyan Desert Glass

Tektite var. Libyan Desert Glass

sold
Locality
Gilf Kebir Region, Egypt
Dimensions
4 x 2.3 x 2.2 cm
Size class
Miniature
SID
DSGLASS2

Libyan Desert Glass is believed to the result of the impact of a large meteorite, or the result of a significant aerial burst explosion around 28.5 million years ago (dated by the fission track method). They are the purest form of natural glass on earth, containing over 96% silica. They were first discovered by ancient Egyptians as evidenced by a scarab beatle carvings found on the mummy of King Tutankhamun. Today they are found in the deep Saharan desert, two days driving into a militarized zone near the border of Libya and Egypt. The leading theory leans towards an aerial burst ten thousand times more powerful than the Hiroshima nuclear detonation (Boslough). Some pieces have dark streaks; chemical analyses of these inclusions show enrichment by meteoritic elements, such as Osmium, with typical chondritic proportions (Koeberl C.). 

This piece is a pleasant, gemmy yellow and shows small white Cristobalite inclusions (a high temperature silica polymorph). It has a neat shape, and weighs 17 grams.

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