 | « | (2) Compression: The asteroid’s colossal kinetic energy is converted into heat almost instantaneously. Pressure reaches millions of bars and temperatures soar to 30'000 °C. This causes bedrock and asteroid to vaporize generating an explosion which excavates a crater 8km wide and 4km deep. Waves of compression expand through the Earth’s crust at several times the speed of sound. Mechanical shock leads to the formation of new minerals, such as Coesite or Stishovite (shock metamorphosis). Even many kilometres away, limestone layers are shattered, including their embedded fossils. Left: Belemnite with multiple fractures, on display at Meteorkratermuseum Steinheim. | » |  |
