Impactite is rock created or modified by one or more impacts of a meteorite. [1][2] Impactites are considered metamorphic rock, because their source materials were modified by the heat and pressure of the impact. [3] . On Earth, impactites consist primarily of modified terrestrial material, sometimes with pieces of the original meteorite. [3]

Impactite is a very special stone created from a meteorite that struck Earth around 500 million years ago. The crater is known as the Gardnos Crater, and is located in Buskerud, Norway. The meteorite was estimated to be 650-1000 feet in size and created a crater of over 3 miles wide. Upon impact, the existing bedrock was melted down and fractured.

These terrestrial rocks, physically altered by the tremendous heat, pressure and shock waves associated with very large meteorite impacts, are known as impactites. Usually only the very largest crater-forming events generate the energy required to melt, fragment, or even vaporize terrestrial rocks.

“Impact rocks” and “impactites”, which can be considered synonymous, are informal, somewhat woolly terms. They basically describe rocks that have been produced in a meteorite impact process like impact melt rocks, suevites and various impact breccias.

The term impactite is used here to designate all rocks produced during an impact event, including shock-meta-morphosed (but still recognizable) target rocks (both in place and as fragments in breccias), breccias, and impact melts.

Impactite dykes are a common occurrence in the crater floor and central uplift of many impact craters on Earth. The most common types of impactite dykes are lithic breccias and pseudotachylite ( Dressler and Reimold, 2004 ), which are outside the scope of this contribution.

A vesicular, glassy to finely crystalline material produced by fusion or partial fusion of target rock by the heat generated from the impact of a large meteorite, and occurring in and around the resulting crater, typically as individual bodies composed of mixtures of melt and rock fragments, often with traces of meteoritic material; a rock from ...

Impactites are rocks on Earth that have been impacted by asteroids (very large meteorites) or comets. Following such a meeting of worlds, terrestrial rock is shocked, shattered and melted. The most energetic impacts can even result in new minerals — including diamonds, says James Hyslop, head of Science and Natural History at Christie’s.

"Impactites" refer generally to materials that have been produced by meteorite impacts, including melted rocks, shocked minerals, shatter cones, and flaegle. Samples of rock containing spherule layers from giant impacts like Chicxulub (66 million years ago) and Chesapeake Bay (35.5 Ma) are also in the collection.

Impactites are terrestrial rocks that were created or modified as a result of a meteorite impact event. There are 4 types: tektites, impact glass, suevites and shatter cones. Let’s dive into each one of them: 1. Tektites are a terrestrial rock that is transformed during a meteorite impact event.