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Health & Science4h 17m ago

Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Shawn Wright discovered 'shocked soil' while doing field work in the Lonar crater in India.

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Lonar crater, Deccan region, India

Who
Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Shawn Wright, Joseph Michalski of Hong Kong University
What
Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Shawn Wright discovered 'shocked soil' while doing field work in the Lonar crater in India.
When
Wed, 17 Jun 2026 17:39:01 GMT · 4h 17m ago
Where
Lonar crater, Deccan region, India ·
Why
A meteoroid impact generates energy that propagates through material, producing glass; the discovered shocked soil is an impactite, a material modified by an impact.
The Frontline Impact

How this affects you

This discovery of 'shocked soil' on Earth provides a new type of impactite and suggests that these materials, which can preserve information about past conditions, might be more common on Mars due to its less active geology.

Story chain

4 events in this thread
  1. Health & Science4h 17m ago
    Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Shawn Wright discovered 'shocked soil,' a new material type of impactite, while doing field work in the Lonar crater in India.
    Open article
  2. Health & Science4h 17m ago
    Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Shawn Wright discovered 'shocked soil,' a new type of impactite, while doing field work among the basaltic volcanic rock of Lonar crater in the Deccan region of India.
    Open article
  3. Currently Reading4h 17m ago
    Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Shawn Wright discovered 'shocked soil' while doing field work in the Lonar crater in India.
  4. Health & Science4h 17m ago
    Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Shawn Wright discovered a new type of impactite, 'shocked soil,' while doing field work at Lonar crater in the Deccan region of India.
    Open article

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