Egyptian pebble filled with DIAMONDS reveals comet that turned Sahara into glass 28 million years ago

Clues of the impact were also found in Libyan desert glass in the Sahara

Glass was created after comet heated the sands of the desert to 2,000°C

A magnificent specimen of the glass can be found in Tutankhamun's brooch

The first evidence of a comet impact on Earth has been found in a mysterious black Egyptian pebble filled with diamonds.

The comet is thought to have struck Earth 28 million years heating the sands of the Sahara desert to 2,000°C.



It created huge amounts of yellow silica glass- also known as Libyan desert glass- which today lie scattered over a 6 000 square kilometre area in the Sahara.



The comet is thought to have struck Earth 28 million years heating the sands of the Sahara desert to 2,000°C

A magnificent specimen of the glass, polished by ancient jewellers, is found in Tutankhamun's brooch with its striking yellow-brown scarab.

The discovery reported in Earth and Planetary Science Letters could even help researchers unlock the secrets of the formation of our solar system.



‘Comets always visit our skies – they’re these dirty snowballs of ice mixed with dust – but never before in history has material from a comet ever been found on Earth,’ said Professor David Block of Wits University, who led the research.

As well as the glass, the impact produced microscopic diamonds.



The comet created huge amounts of yellow silica glass- also known as Libyan desert glass- which today lie scattered over a 6 000 square kilometre area in the Sahara

CLUES IN TUTANKHAMUN'S BROOCH

Tutankhamun's impeccably preserved brooch was recovered along with the numerous other artifacts within his tomb in 1922. The striking yellow-brown scarab that is set at its heart is made of a yellow silica glass stone procured from the sand of the Sahara. Researchers believe the silica glass was originally formed 28 million years ago, when an ancient comet entered the earth's atmosphere and exploded over Egypt.



Evidence of this can be found in a small, black, diamond-bearing pebble found years earlier by an Egyptian geologist.

After conducting chemical analyses on the pebble, the authors came to the conclusion that it represented the very first known hand specimen of a comet nucleus, rather than an unusual type of meteorite.

The team have named the diamond-bearing pebble ‘Hypatia’ after of the first well known female mathematician, astronomer and philosopher, Hypatia of Alexandria.

Understanding how a comet impact affects planets, could scientists solve some of the mysteries surrounding our solar system.

Jan Kramers describes the find as a moment elation. ‘It’s a typical scientific euphoria when you eliminate all other options and come to the realisation of what it must be,’ he said.

Comet material is very elusive. Fragments have never been found on Earth before except as microscopic sized dust particles in the upper atmosphere and some carbon-rich dust in the Antarctic ice.



‘Nasa and Esa spend billions of dollars collecting a few micrograms of comet material and bringing it back to Earth, and now we’ve got a radical new approach of studying this material, without spending billions of dollars collecting it,’ said Professor Kramers.

The study of Hypatia has grown into an international collaborative research programme with several expeditions already underway in the desert glass area.

