BLACK ONAPING FALLBACK BRECCIA
[ Closeup View ]
About 1.87 billion years ago, an object from space, 9 kilometers in diameter, struck Canada just north of Sudbury, Ontario creating the second largest impact structure on the planet. This impact was equivalent to billion of tons of TNT - much larger than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs combined. The impact was so big it cracked the earth at the crust and created a mushroom cloud.
The many mineral rich deposits and strange rock formations in such close proximity to the impact site has attracted attention for hundreds of years, long before its impact origins were known. This is a specimen of Sudbury Black Onaping Breccia. Onaping is a lithified fallback breccia composed of melt glass and country target rock fragments. This meteorite impact created a large mushroom cloud that fell back down to earth to create this breccia.
"Bucky Ball Fullerine" with terrestrial carbon in the form of C-60 and C-70 is found in this type of Sudbury impact rock. Greenish-Blueish dust covered Tektites can also be found within its matrix. The onaping forms in two layers. One layer is grey onaping and one layer is black onaping. [ Click here to read more about the Sudbury Wanapitie impact ].
