Tektite | Libyan desert glass | 16,13 g

Product detailed description

About 28.5 million years ago, during the Tertiary period, a huge meteorite about 1-1.5 km in diameter struck the Libyan desert, melting the surrounding sand at temperatures exceeding 1700 °C and forming the purest natural quartz glass in existence. The meteorite probably formed the recently discovered Kebira Crater, which is about 31 km in diameter.

Libyan Desert Glass (LDG) is yellow, sometimes slightly greenish in colour, and comes in many different sizes, from pieces weighing a few grams to pieces weighing up to 30 kg.

Explorers only became aware of Libyan glass in 1932, when it was discovered by the P. A. Clayton expedition. It was he, together with Leonard James Spencer, who first introduced and described it in detail to the public. However, archaeological findings have shown that Libyan glass was already in use in ancient Egypt. Pharaoh Tutankhamun's necklace, discovered in his tomb in 1922, contains a scarab made of this very impaktite, as does the hilt of his dagger.