LIBYAN DESERT GLASS

This is a natural untreated specimen of Libyan desert glass in its natural form as found in the desert .I bought this on my last trip to morocco from a desert nomad as he called him self-some great formations in the specimen

Between the towering dunes of the Eastern Great Sand Sea of Egypt are long narrow gaps where bedrock is exposed. It is in these areas of exposed surface that a wondrous natural glass is found. Libyan Desert Glass is the remaining evidence of a tremendous asteroid or comet impact with Earth. Probably an air burst explosion caused the released sufficient heat to melt and fuse to glass the surface of the ground. Libyan Desert Glass is generally yellow in color. It can be very clear or it can be a milky, even bubbly light yellow. Some fragments have dark bands and swirls of brownish material. It is in these dark areas that some of the melted cosmic body is believed by some to be preserved. Libyan Desert Glass was used in ancient times as a gem stone for the Pharaohs and remains a highly prized impact glass for collectors today.it is said cleopatra like to wear this stone in her jewelery.

The origin of the glass is a controversial issue for the scientific community, with many evolving theories. Meteoritic origins for the glass were long suspected, and recent research linked the glass to impact mechanics, such as vaporized quartz and meteoritic metals, and to an impact crater. Some geologists associate the glass not with impact melt ejecta, but with radiative melting from meteoric large aerial bursts. If that were the case, the glass would be analogous to trinitite, which is created from sand exposed to the thermal radiation of a nuclear explosion. The Libyan desert glass has been dated as having formed about 26 million years ago. It was knapped and used as a tool during the Pleistocene Era.