(Image: Peter Schultz/Geology/GSA)
When asteroids strike Earth, it can mean death and destruction. But they can also be flashbulbs, capturing a freeze-frame record of life at the moment of impact.
of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and his colleagues examined two asteroid impact sites in the Chasic贸 and Mar del Plata regions in La Pampa, Argentina. They found the first examples of biological material locked in the glass that is instantly formed in the blast.
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This animation of 3D electron microscope scans show plant fragments that were pulled out of the impact glass for detailed analysis. The material was preserved in incredible detail, including structures down to the cellular level.
Similar impact glass fossils, protected for eons under a blanket of Martian dust, could retain a record of ancient life on the Red Rlanet.
Journal reference: Geology, DOI:
