SHATTERCONES

  

Shattercones in rock from the 1.85 billion year-old Sudbury Impact Structure in Ontario, Canada.  Shattercones are features developed in rocks by a powerful shock wave or pressure front moving through during an impact event.  They have a three-dimensional cone-like structure, with the points of the cones directed toward the shock wave origination site.  Undisturbed shatterconed rocks will have their cones pointing upward (toward space).

(CMNH, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, Ohio, USA)

 


 

 

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