Shatter cone

Shatter cone from the Steinheim Basin (type locality), Germany.
Largest shatter cone registered, more than 9m in height, Slate Islands, Terrace Bay, Ontario, Canada
Typical shatter cone from Ries impact crater, Germany.

Shatter cones are features of rocks. They only form in the bedrock beneath meteorite impact craters or underground nuclear explosions.

They show the rock has been subjected to a shock with pressures in the range of 2–30 GPa (290,000–4,350,000 psi).[1][2][3]

References

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  1. ↑ French B.M. (1998). Traces of catastrophe. Lunar and Planetary Institute. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
  2. ↑ Sagy A.; Fineberg J.; Reches Z. (2004). "Shatter cones: Branched, rapid fractures formed by shock impact". Journal of Geophysical Research. 109 (B10): B10209. Bibcode:2004JGRB..10910209S. doi:10.1029/2004JB003016.
  3. ↑ French, Bevan M. (2005). "Stalking the wily shatter cone: a critical guide for impact-crater hunters" (PDF). Impacts in the Field. 2 (Winter). Impact Field Studies Group: s 3–10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-20.