Shock metamorphism is the process by which materials are permanently changed as a result of the passage of high-pressure shock waves. Detailed investigation of shock metamorphic effects in geologic materials dates from about 1960 (Chao et al., 1960), but the field of study includes such long-known phenomena as Neumann bands in iron meteorites and the glassy plagioclase phase, maskelynite, first described in the Shergotty achondritic meteorite by Tschermak (1872). Shock effects have been recognized in many meteorites (Dodd, 1981), in returned lunar samples (Engelhardt et al., 1970), and in terrestrial rocks both from large meteorite craters (>90 m across) and from yet larger eroded impact structures (astroblemes). They are interpreted in all cases as prime evidence for hypervelocity impact (Chao, 1967), the only recognized natural means of generating high shock pressures (French and Short, 1968). Comparable effects produced by shaped explosive charges and high-velocity impact...
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Dence, M.R., Robertson, P.B. (1989). Shock metamorphism . In: Petrology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30845-8_222
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