SPACE — A type of yellow glass discovered in 1933 in the Libyan desert may not be native to Earth. A new analysis shows the strange object came from outer space.
The mysterious glass crowns the Great Sand Sea Desert which stretches for 72,000 square kilometers and connects Egypt and Libya. If you are in certain parts of the desert in southeast Libya and southwest Egypt, you will see the crown; yellow glass shards scattered across the sandy landscape.
The glass was first described in a scientific paper in 1933 and is known as Libyan desert glass. Mineral collectors appreciate their beauty, rarity, and mystery.
Glass is nothing new on earth. A pendant found in the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun contained glass shards. Natural glasses are also found in many places around the world, such as moldavite from the Ries crater in Europe and tektites from the Ivory Coast.
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But no silica is as rich as Libyan desert glass, nor has any been found in such large quantities and chunks. The origin of Libyan glass has been the subject of debate among scientists for almost a century.
Some people think the glass may have come from a volcano on the moon. Others suspect it was the result of a lightning strike called fulgurites. Another theory states that the glass was caused by sedimentary or hydrothermal processes, namely a large meteor explosion in the air or originating from a nearby meteorite crater.
“Thanks to advanced microscope technology, we believe we now have the answer,” wrote Lecturer from the University of the Western Cape, Elizaveta Kovaleva on the Live Science website, Tuesday, December 5 2023.
Kovaleva and colleagues from universities and science centers in Germany, Egypt and Morocco conducted a new analysis of the glass. They identified it as coming from a meteorite impact on the earth’s surface.
According to him, space collisions are the main process in the solar system, because planets and their natural satellites accrete through asteroids and planetary embryos colliding with each other. “These impacts also help our planet unite (into a complete Earth),” he said.
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Under the Microscope
In 1996, scientists determined that Libyan glass was nearly 29 million years old. Subsequent research showed that the source material consisted of quartz grains, coated with a mixture of clay minerals and iron and titanium oxides.
The find raises more questions, as the proposed age is older than matched source material in the relevant region of the Great Sand Sea desert. “Simply put, the source material did not exist at that location 29 million years ago,” he said.
2023-12-05 13:07:00
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