Trinitite: The Atomic Rock || Geology Presentation

Trinitite, also known as Alamogordo Glass and Atomsite, is a unique glass created by the first full-scale test of a plutonium nuclear bomb. Its name comes from Trinity, the site at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico where the test was conducted on the morning of July 16, 1945. The blast vaporized the bomb, the steel tower it was detonated on, and a large region of surrounding desert sand, all of which rained back down as glassy droplets that coalesced to form a bubbly, solid sheet of glass on the desert floor. These samples exhibit the smooth, green surface with a craquelure texture characteristic of Trinitite, which is typically interspersed with vesicles. The undersides are sandy and friable, and it is best to keep Trinitite in a container. Trinitite remains weakly radioactive today at levels that are safe to handle, but care must be taken not to ingest any. My samples were obtained by my grandfather, and were likely purchased near Alamogordo in the early 1960s.
I presented this talk to my local rock and mineral club over the summer.

#trinitite #geology

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