science-junkie:Geological Treasures in Ancient Egypt November 26, 1922 archaeologist Howard Carter
science-junkie: Geological Treasures in Ancient Egypt November 26, 1922 archaeologist Howard Carter (1874-1939) entered the tomb of Tutankhamun, pharaoh in ancient Egypt from 1332 to 1323 BC. The grave was filled with precious jewelry, including a breastplate decorated with a scarab, made from a greenish-yellow gemstone. At first the gem was identified as chalcedony, a variety of quartz. However in December 1932 the British geologist Patrick Clayton, exploring the Libyan desert, discovered some strange pieces of green glass emerging from the sand. He published his discovery together with mineralogist Leonard Spencer from the British Museum, suggesting that the strange material formed as a layer of silica deposits on the bottom of a (now dry) lake.Today the desert glass is explained as tektites – the ubiquitous sand was suddenly molten by the impact of a meteorite, quickly cooling in the air, droplets of glass rained down on the Libyan desert, where the greenish gemstone was collected already 3000 years ago. Read more (via Scientific American) -- source link