Impactites

This is a must have 52 gram Impact Breccia also referred to as Suevite coming from the famous Rochechouart impact structure in South Western France, near the village of Chassenon.  Although not a meteorite, impactites are directly linked to them and their impacts and are probably going to be one of the rarest collection items you'll ever own. Impactite is a slag-like glassy object found on the surface of the earth, formed from rock melted by the impact of a meteorite.

Named after the town of Rochechouart, the Rochechouart impact structure is located on the western margin of the French Massif Central near the city of Limoges, approximately 350 km (220 mi) south of Paris.  Rochechouart (population about 3800) is built with rocks created or modified by the impact (impactites). Chassenon, a third of the size of Rochechouart, is also built of impactites. Impactite was used 2000 years ago for building Chassenon's monumental Roman baths of Cassinomagus.

The very fine materials (impactoclastites) are preserved forming a very fine layered horizontal deposits on top of the melt rich suevite (breccia with a debris matrix and both rock debris and melt fragments as clasts) near Chassenon.

The term impactite encompasses shock-metamorphosed target rocks, melts or suevites and mixtures of the two, as well as sedimentary rocks with significant impact-derived components and shocked mineral grains, tektites, anomalous geochemical signatures, etc. This impactite was formed 186 million years ago.   This deformed rock fragments and partly molten are imbedded in a melt matrix showing typical flow structures from former melt.

This gorgeous slice displays very well with a mass of 76x46x16 mm. Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection. Comes with a Canagem Collection specimen card.

This is an outstanding specimen Impact Melt Glass, or "Flädle" glass, from the Lake Mien crater, 12 km (7.5 mi) southwest of the town of Tingsryd, Sweden.   It weighs 34.5 grams and measures 55x48x15 mm.  Although not a meteorite, impactites are directly linked to them and their impacts.

Impactite is a slag-like glassy object found on the surface of the earth, formed from rock melted by the impact of a meteorite. The term encompasses shock-metamorphosed target rocks, melts or suevites and mixtures of the two, as well as sedimentary rocks with significant impact-derived components and shocked mineral grains, tektites, anomalous geochemical signatures, etc.

This eroded crater is marked by a 5.5-km (3.4-mi) diameter circular lake named Lake Mien. The original crater rim is estimated to have been about 9 km in diameter before erosion. Its age is estimated to be 121.0 ± 2.3 million years (Early Cretaceous).  This Suevitic breccia with clastic matrix and melt inclusions (black) and crystalline rock clasts (gray to white) is amazingly light considering its mass.   It has a unique hollow sound when you tap it.

Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection. Comes with a Canagem Collection specimen card.

This is an outstanding Impact Melt Glass specimen or bomb weighing 9.87 grams.  Its dimensions are 33x28x25 mm.  Although not a meteorite, impactites are directly linked to them and their impacts.

This Henbury glass, or more specifically vesicular impactite, was found in the Northern Territory of Australia. Thirteen craters were found 8 miles southwest of the town of Henbury, the largest of which was 720 x 360 feet.  Henbury impactite was formed by a meteorite impact that occurred around 4,700 years ago. The meteorite is believed to have exploded upon entering the Earth's atmosphere, creating multiple craters which produced the impact glass.

Impactite is a slag-like glassy object found on the surface of the earth, formed from rock melted by the impact of a meteorite. The term encompasses shock-metamorphosed target rocks, melts or suevites and mixtures of the two, as well as sedimentary rocks with significant impact-derived components and shocked mineral grains, tektites, anomalous geochemical signatures, etc.

This piece displays extremely well.  It is amazingly light considering its mass.  It has a unique hollow sound when you tap it.  This Australian find is very well shaped and preserved. These pieces are becoming more difficult to acquire so this is a good time to get a fine specimen.  Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection.  Will come with a Canagem specimen card.

This is a 31 gram Grey Melt Rock from the Köfels Structure, Austria. It measures 43x43x17 mm.  The specific origin of kofelsite rocks is uncertain & debated. The rocks are found in a landslide deposit in western Austria. Researchers have suggested that the landslide was impact-triggered. The kofelsite samples in the landslide deposit thus may be impactites (fused rocks from the heat of impact). Some workers have suggested that the rocks are frictionites (fused rocks from landslide heating).

The Köfels landslide was a huge mountain rockslide (a Sturzstrom) that occurred in the Austrian Alps about 9800 years ago near the present day village of Köfels. Some of its features mystified geologists for quite some time. One hypothesis was that it had been caused by an asteroid impact — a Köfels impact event — but more recent research has rejected the idea. This didn't stop a pair of British engineers from publishing a book that claims that a) it was an asteroid impact, b) it inspired a lot of myths, and c) it was recorded on an ancient Sumerian clay tablet.

The reason for the original impact hypothesis was the presence of fused rock. At the time, the only processes known to be able to do this were either volcanism or meteor impacts. Later research found that it can be also produced by friction and similar fused rock has been found in other large rockslides.

This specimen displays very well even if not proven to be meteorite impact related.  Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection. Comes with a Canagem Collection specimen card.

This is a 22.3 gram Grey Melt Rock from the Köfels Structure, Austria. It measures 38x22x21 mm.  The specific origin of kofelsite rocks is uncertain & debated. The rocks are found in a landslide deposit in western Austria. Researchers have suggested that the landslide was impact-triggered. The kofelsite samples in the landslide deposit thus may be impactites (fused rocks from the heat of impact). Some workers have suggested that the rocks are frictionites (fused rocks from landslide heating).

The Köfels landslide was a huge mountain rockslide (a Sturzstrom) that occurred in the Austrian Alps about 9800 years ago near the present day village of Köfels. Some of its features mystified geologists for quite some time. One hypothesis was that it had been caused by an asteroid impact — a Köfels impact event — but more recent research has rejected the idea. This didn't stop a pair of British engineers from publishing a book that claims that a) it was an asteroid impact, b) it inspired a lot of myths, and c) it was recorded on an ancient Sumerian clay tablet.

The reason for the original impact hypothesis was the presence of fused rock. At the time, the only processes known to be able to do this were either volcanism or meteor impacts. Later research found that it can be also produced by friction and similar fused rock has been found in other large rockslides.

This specimen displays very well even if not proven to be meteorite impact related.  Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection. Comes with a Canagem Collection specimen card.

This is a rare and fantastic 5 gram Libyan Desert Glass from Kuffra, Libya, with dimensions of 30x21x9 mm.  Although its exact origin is still debated, the leading theory suggests it was formed by a high-energy event, such as a meteoric impact or airburst, that melted the desert sand directly where it lay, without being ejected into the atmosphere and re-entering. This results in different physical characteristics compared to tektites​.

Libyan Desert Glass is found specifically in the Great Sand Sea of the Eastern Sahara, within a more localized area spanning parts of western Egypt and eastern Libya.  Characterized by its yellow to greenish-yellow color, it lacks the aerodynamic shapes of tektites and often appears as irregularly shaped pieces. It is almost pure silica (around 98%) with very few impurities. Throughout history, it has been regarded as a mystical and powerful material, sometimes used in talismans and amulets.

This piece displays extremely well and is a quality translucent specimen. It has an aesthetic shape with a beautiful wind eroded body from the years spent in the Desert. Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection. Comes with a Canagem Collection specimen card.

This is an outstanding Impact Melt Glass specimen or bomb weighing 1.42 grams.  Its dimensions are 18x15x11 mm.  Although not a meteorite, impactites are directly linked to them and their impacts.

This Henbury glass, or more specifically vesicular impactite, was found in the Northern Territory of Australia. Thirteen craters were found 8 miles southwest of the town of Henbury, the largest of which was 720 x 360 feet.  Henbury impactite was formed by a meteorite impact that occurred around 4,700 years ago. The meteorite is believed to have exploded upon entering the Earth's atmosphere, creating multiple craters which produced the impact glass.

Impactite is a slag-like glassy object found on the surface of the earth, formed from rock melted by the impact of a meteorite. The term encompasses shock-metamorphosed target rocks, melts or suevites and mixtures of the two, as well as sedimentary rocks with significant impact-derived components and shocked mineral grains, tektites, anomalous geochemical signatures, etc.

This piece displays extremely well.  It is amazingly light considering its mass.  It has a unique hollow sound when you tap it.  This Australian find is very well shaped and preserved. These pieces are becoming more difficult to acquire so this is a good time to get a fine specimen.  Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection.  Will come with a Canagem specimen card.

This is a fantastic shatter cone from France weighing 12.65 grams and measuring 33x25x13  mm. Although not a meteorite, impactites and shatter cones are directly linked to them and their impacts.   Shatter cones are evidence that the rock has been subjected to an extreme shock with very brief high pressures.

Shatter cones are rare geological features that are only known to form in the bedrock beneath large meteorite impact craters. They have a distinctively conical shape with thin grooves (striae) that radiate from the top (apex) of the cone. Shatter cones can range in length from 1 centimeter to several meters. The azimuths of the cones's axes typically radiate outwards from the point of impact, with the cones pointing towards the center of the impact crater.

This impactite was formed 186 million years ago.  This piece displays very well and is a very nice size showing multiple characteristics of its origin. Would make a beautiful addition to any collection. Comes with a Canagem Collection specimen card.

Indochinite is a variety of the mineral tektite, which is a natural glass formed by the intense heat and pressure of a meteorite impact.  These tektites are usually found as small, aerodynamically shaped objects, often teardrop or irregular in shape, resulting from the molten material solidifying as it cooled rapidly after being ejected from the impact site.

Indochinites are believed to have formed around 780,000 to 800,000 years ago, following a significant meteorite impact event that likely created the Southeast Asian tektite strewn field.  The strewn field is quite large, and the tektites can be found scattered over a vast area which includes Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.   

This piece displays very well, showing multiple characteristics of its origin.  The specimen has a weigh of 51 grams and dimensions of 45x32x23.  Comes with a Canagem Collection specimen card.

This is a rare and fantastic 78.3 gram Libyan Desert Glass from Kuffra, Libya, with dimensions of 54x48x31 mm.

Although its exact origin is still debated, the leading theory suggests it was formed by a high-energy event, such as a meteoric impact or airburst, that melted the desert sand directly where it lay, without being ejected into the atmosphere and re-entering. This results in different physical characteristics compared to tektites​. Libyan Desert Glass is found specifically in the Great Sand Sea of the Eastern Sahara, within a more localized area spanning parts of western Egypt and eastern Libya.

This is a 620 gram impact melt rock from the Gallejaur Crater, northern Sweden.  Although not a meteorite, impactites are directly linked to them and their impacts and are probably going to be one of the rarest collection items you'll ever own. Impactite is a slag-like glassy object found on the surface of the earth, formed from rock melted by the impact of a meteorite.

The term impactite encompasses shock-metamorphosed target rocks, melts or suevites and mixtures of the two, as well as sedimentary rocks with significant impact-derived components and shocked mineral grains, tektites, anomalous geochemical signatures, etc.

Rocks, interpreted as impact generated lithologies, occur in a large area surrounding the Gallejaur magnetic structure at latitude 65°10/longitude 19°30 in northernmost Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. These rocks comprise a variety of different types of breccias: authigenic The Gallejaur structure is located in the central part of the Skellefte mining district in the Precambrian Baltic Shield. The ca. 1.9 Ga old Skellefte district is an extensively mineralized, mainly felsic, submarine volcanic belt.  The rocks are described as impact-generated, have been called the Vargfors Group and overlie the Skellefte volcanics and sediments with an angular unconformity.  The youngest rocks in the area, intruding the Skellefte district supracrustals and probably the impact-generated rock, are A/I-type granitoids belonging to the Revsund-Adak granite suite, which have been dated at ca. 1.80 to 1.78 Ga.

This great bookend slab displays very well.  It has a mass of 190x97x39 mm.  Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection. Comes with a Canagem Collection specimen card.

This is a great 145.8 gram Red Suevite Fallback Breccia from the Sääksjärvi crater in Finland. It has dimensions of 79x38x45 mm.  Although not a meteorite, impactites are directly linked to them and their impacts and are probably going to be one of the rarest collection item you'll ever own. Impactite is a slag-like glassy object found on the surface of the earth, formed from rock melted by the impact of a meteorite.

The term impactite encompasses shock-metamorphosed target rocks, melts or suevites and mixtures of the two, as well as sedimentary rocks with significant impact-derived components and shocked mineral grains, tektites, anomalous geochemical signatures, etc.

Sääksjärvi is a lake in Kokemäki, Satakunta, western Finland, east of the town of Pori. The lake is notable because it overlies an impact crater.  The crater is 5 kilometres (3 mi) in diameter and is completely buried under the lake and is not visible at the surface. The age of the impact structure is estimated to be about 543 ± 12 Ma (million years ago), at the boundary between the Ediacaran and Cambrian periods. The enormous heat and pressure at the impact explosion created an interesting melt, a Suevite, and shattered rocks and dust which fell back into the crater area becoming cemented together over the centuries.  These rock formation is known as Fallback Breccia.

These are some of the best looking breccias we've found. Would be a beautiful addition to any new or existing collection. Comes with a Canagem Collection specimen card.