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Researchers mentioned that the glasses are concentrated in patches across the Atacama Desert which is located in the east of Pampa del Tamarugal. (Image Credits: Shutterstock/Representational)
Scientists were aware that something scorched a vast area of the Atacama Desert with heat so intense that it turned the sandy soil into widespread slabs of silicate glass.
A new study has suggested that the glass pieces spread across Chile’s Atacama Desert are a result of an ancient comet that exploded in Earth’s atmosphere around 12,000 years ago. The study published in the journal Geology earlier this week, involved five scientists from Brown University, Fernbank Science Center, Chile’s Universidad Santo Tomás, Chilean Geology and Mining Service.
Researchers mentioned that the glasses are concentrated in patches across the Atacama Desert which is located in the east of Pampa del Tamarugal, a plateau in northern Chile nestled between the Andes Mountains in the east and the Chilean Coastal Range in the west. Patches of dark green or black glass are visible in an area stretching about 75 kilometers. Scientists were aware that something scorched a vast area of the Atacama Desert with heat so intense that it turned the sandy soil into widespread slabs of silicate glass.
The study mentions that samples of the desert glass contain fragments with minerals often found in rocks of extraterrestrial origin. Researchers go on to say that those minerals are seen to match the composition of material returned to Earth by National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Stardust mission, which sampled the particles from a comet called Wild 2.
Pete Schultz, a professor emeritus in Brown University’s Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, said in a statement, “This is the first time we have clear evidence of glasses on Earth that were created by the thermal radiation and winds from a fireball exploding just above the surface.” The team of researchers concluded that the mineral components in the desert glass are likely the remains of a comet with a composition similar to Wild 2. It is being hypothesised that the comet streamed down after the explosion that melted the sandy surface in the desert. Describing the supposed comet landing at Atacama, Schultz added, “To have such a dramatic effect on such a large area, this was a truly massive explosion. Lots of us have seen bolide fireballs streaking across the sky, but those are tiny blips compared to this.”
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