impactite

[ im-pak-tahyt, im-pak-tahyt ]

noun

1. a glassy or crystalline material composed of slag and meteoric materials, produced by the impact of a meteorite striking the earth.

Word History and Origins

Origin of impactite¹

First recorded in 1935–40; impact + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

Impactite, a type of rock that has been changed by a meteor impact, blankets the area, especially the islands in the center of the lake.

From Time

When the lake is connected to the region’s water system, it is almost indistinguishable from any other lake, except to geologists who study the composition of the rocks, searching for ‘impactite‘, a type of melted rock that forms in a meteorite strike.

From Time

While it is now completely buried under the overlying lake, geologists were able to determine its presence by studying the impactite rocks in the area.

From Time

An impactite from Tasmania is 700,000 years old, the same age as tektites found in Australia, Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

From Time Magazine Archive

If it happens to hit the earth, it blasts a crater many miles across, sometimes melting nearby rock and spewing out slaglike material called impactite.

From Time Magazine Archive