Experimentally generated microcrater on an olivine surface
Studying impacts of small planetary bodies gives insights how such catastrophic events affected the Earth surface, the climate and the evolution of life during the Earth history to this day. Special attention is given to the feedback of the "System Earth" to such external disturbance during Earth history. Due to the fact that Earth is an extremely dynamical planet, the signs of extraterrestial impacts are often concealed on the small scale and needs advanced analytical tools to judge their geological relevance. Above all, experiments help to simulate impacts of small particles on surfaces.
Selected publications
Langenhorst, F. (2024). Silica in a State of Shock. Nature Geoscience, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01477-3External link
Otzen, C., Liermann, H.-P., Langenhorst, F. (2024). A new mechanism for stishovite formation during rapid compression of quartz and implications for asteroid impacts. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 129, e2023JE008126. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JE008126External link
Hamann, C., Kurosawa, K., Ono, H., Tada, T., Langenhorst, F., Pollok, K., Genda, H., Niihara, T., Okamoto, T., Matsui, T. (2023). Experimental evidence for shear-induced melting and generation of stishovite in granite at low (<18 GPa) shock pressure. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 128, e2023JE007742. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JE007742External link
Husband, R. J., et al. (2023). A MHz X-ray diffraction set-up for dynamic compression experiments in the diamond anvil cell. J. Synchrotron Rad. 30, 671–685. https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600577523003910External link
Otzen, C., Liermann, H.-P., Langenhorst, F. (2023). Evidence for a rosiaite-structured high-pressure silica phase and its relation to lamellar amorphization in quartz. Nature Communications, 14, 606. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36320-7External link
Seybold, L., Trepmann, C.A., Hölzl, S., Pollok, K., Langenhorst, F., Dellefant, F., Kaliwoda, M. (2023). Twinned calcite as an indicator of high differential stresses and low shock pressure conditions during impact cratering. Meteorit Planet Sci, 58: 1287-1305. https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14056External link
Fazio, A., Folco, L., Langenhorst, F. (2022). Possible shock-induced crystallization of skeletal quartz from supercritical SiO2-H2O fluid: A case study of impact melt from Kamil impact crater, Egypt. Geology, 50. https://doi.org/10.1130/G49476.1Externer LinkExternal link
Gleason, A.E., Park, S., Rittman, D.R., Ravasio, A., Langenhorst, F., Bolis, R.M., Granados, E., Hok, S., Kroll, T., Sikorski, M., Weng, T.-C., Lee, H.J., Nagler, B., Sisson, T., Xing, Z., Zhu, D., Giuli, G., Mao, W.L., Glenzer, S.H., Sokaras, D., Alonso-Mori, R. (2022). Ultrafast structural response of shock-compressed plagioclase. Meteorit Planet Sci, 57: 635-643. https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13785External link