WHAT IS LIBYAN DESERT SILICA GLASS
LIBYAN DESERT GLASS is a naturally occurring glass. Natural glass
can be formed by lightning strike (fulgurite) or volcanic activity (obsidian), as well as by meteroites striking the earth
(tectite and impactite). Silica glass is composed primarily of silicon (up to 98 %).
HOW IS LIBYAN DESERT GLASS FORMED
Scientists
continue to debate exactly how silica glass is formed. The source in Egypt's Great Sand Sea is unique in the world. It's one
of the most remote and inhospitable regions in the Sahara. It is assumed that the glass here formed when a meteorite struck
some 29 million years ago, although no crater can be seen in the area. Some are of the opinion that volcanic debris from the
moon or even from Mars was flung into space, captured by the earth's gravitational force, and finally fell into the Libyan
Desert. At any rate there is agreement that silica glass formed here as a result of an unimaginably powerful cosmic event.
DISCOVERIES
The Englishman Patrick A. Clayton discovered the source in 1932 and brought the first examples back to Europe for
study. However since 1998 it is known that silica glass was known long before Clayton. Among Tutankhamuns's treasures is a
pectoral which contains a silica glass scarab. An Italian mineralogist examined the scarab with the latest equipment to determine
the index of refraction and the mineral's structure. The results were surprising. The scarab was without a doubt cut from
Libyan desert silica glass.
SOURCE
AND COMPOSITION
The only source of this glass
worldwide is at the southern end of the Great Sand Sea in the area near the Gilf Kebir. Knowledge of the desert and the right
equipment is required to reach the area. The glass is found in an area approximately 130 km by 53 km, among dunes that can
reach as high as 100 metres. Wind driven desert sands now sculpt, shape an polish fragments of this rare, exotic glass into
strikingly beautiful and unique specimens.
There are
pieces in the most diverse sizes, from centimetre-sized pieces to stones weighting some kilograms (the biggest ever found
piece weight around 28 kg). The surface can vary from smooth pieces polished by the sand to rough uneven examples. Each glass
is different and colours vary from milky grey-white to light green and yellow. Silica glass is one of the most rare minerals
on earth - even more rare than diamonds.
