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For decades, geologists have looked at shocked quartz as an unambiguous sign of an asteroid impact. Only the pressure and heat of an impact could shock quartz sufficiently to produce what was seen. Geologists clung to this notion even when there was no evidence of an impact. There are places in Argentina and in Australia like that, Melosh says. But since the shocked quartz was an “infallible” sign of impact, what else could they conclude?To read the entire article, click on "Lightning Fries Impact Theory". You may also be interested in this post on fulgurites and how they indicate a young earth.
Things just got tougher for impact geologists.
There are now evidences that ordinary lightning can produce pressure waves and temperatures sufficient to shock quartz. Fulgurites are peculiar “fossils” of lightning that form when bolts strike the ground. Studies of fulgurites show that they, too, can exhibit “planar deformation features” (PDFs) that were considered diagnostic of impacts.
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