New Form of Silica Could Be Created by Meteorite Strikes (IMAGE)
Caption
X-ray diffraction images showing the new form of silica created by sending an intense shock wave through a sample of quartz using a specialized gas gun. When the x-rays bounce off repeating planes of a crystalline structure, they scatter. This creates a distinctive ring pattern. Each ring is associated with a different plane and together this data can tell researchers about the material's atomic-level architecture.
Credit
Image is courtesy of Sally June Tracy, Stefan Turneaure, and Thomas Duffy.
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