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Which of the following minerals would provide the strongest evidence of shock metamorphism caused by a meteorite impact?

1) pyrite
2) quartz
3) stishovite
4) muscovite
5) kaolinite (clay)

1 Answer

4 votes

Final answer:

Stishovite is the mineral among the listed options that provides the strongest evidence of shock metamorphism caused by a meteorite impact due to its formation under extremely high pressures.

Step-by-step explanation:

The mineral that would provide the strongest evidence of shock metamorphism caused by a meteorite impact is stishovite. Stishovite is a high-pressure polymorph of quartz that forms only at extremely high pressures, such as those associated with meteorite impacts. Unlike pyrite, quartz, muscovite, and kaolinite, stishovite indicates the presence of the specific pressure-temperature conditions found during an impact event. Other shock metamorphism indicators include planar deformation features in quartz and high-pressure minerals like coesite, but stishovite remains a definitive sign of such impact events.

answered
User Atralb
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