# Would a nuke turn the desert into a "sheet of glass"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912 "2004-03-17T20:58:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912/1 "2004-03-17T20:58:09Z")
How much glass, if any, would be generated by a nuclear blast in the desert? The idea seems a bit dubious to me. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912/2 "2004-03-17T21:08:42Z")
When we conducted the Trinity atomic bomb test, it was in a desert. And it turns out that yes, it does turn the sand to glass. Sort of. Here’s the American Heritage definition for [trinitite](http://www.bartleby.com/61/15/T0361550.html). Douglas Coupland has a few paragraphs about it in his book _Generation X_, or you can just google for “trinitite”. ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912/3 "2004-03-17T21:45:32Z")
My grad school had a chunk of that in a storage room - it was an oddly shaped lump of greenish glass about a meter in length. I always meant to test it with a geiger counter but never got around to it. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912/4 "2004-03-17T22:24:27Z")
- - - Well this page: [http://www.minresco.com/trinitite/trin.htm](http://www.minresco.com/trinitite/trin.htm) shows the trinitite distribution, and you can see it was only a few hundred meters across, for an _atomic bomb on the ground_. So it obviously takes a lot of heat to melt sand like this. … I have done it with a welding torch just for the heck of it, and you have to hold an oxygen-rich torch flame on regular brown sand for as long as 8-10 minutes just to get the sand to even begin to stick together. Once you do get it melted into a blob and cooled however, it is EXTREMELY hard. … - And, _you can buy the stuff!_ Who woulda thunk it? I’d have guessed it would be radioactive, but I guess not, or at least, -not that much, anyway. ~ ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912/5 "2004-03-17T23:34:14Z")
> [@DougC](#): > > - > - > - Well this page: > [TRINITITE - PRODUCT OF THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMB BLAST](http://www.minresco.com/trinitite/trin.htm) > shows the trinitite distribution, and you can see it was only a few hundred meters across, for an _atomic bomb on the ground_. So it obviously takes a lot of heat to melt sand like this. So what about the Hydrogen Bombs in the Pacific? Were all the islands blown up turned to chunks of glass? Bigger bombs more heat? ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912/6 "2004-03-18T00:11:36Z")
The sand in Nevada turned to a glass because it was mostly quartz in composition (commercial glass is basically pure quartz melted and rapidly cooled so that it has a disordered crystal structure). In contrast, the atolls used for hydrogen bomb tests were made largely of carbonate sand and reefs, i.e. limestone. To my knowledge, no one’s gone back to sample what’s left of the atolls. Since hydrogen bombs are more powerful than the fission blasts in Nevada, I suspect that that limestone vaporized wherever it was in close proximity to the blast; further away it could have recrystallized from the heat, but it wouldn’t have formed a glass. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912/7 "2004-03-18T00:34:16Z")
[QUOTE=sunfish] The sand in Nevada turned to a glass because it was mostly quartz in composition (commercial glass is basically pure quartz melted and rapidly cooled so that it has a disordered crystal structure). QUOTE] [Absolute total hijack] Speaking of disordered structures, I read an article in the _LA Times_ (I think) that the latest in high-strength, high corrosion resistant, high fatigue resistant materials is metal having disordered crystal structures. In essence glasses with metal atoms. Any metallugists who know about this - a cite to an explanatory site would be appreciated. [/Absolutely total hijack] ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912/8 "2004-03-18T01:21:22Z")
**David Simmons** - I googled “metallic glass” and found some university press releases and the like. Not the most in-depth explanations in the world, granted, but here are a few things to start with: [Metallic glass - material of the future?](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/03/980331074950.htm) [Metallic glass throws off sparks](http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/sparking-metallic-glass.html) [Microstructuring of bulk metallic glass by hot mold quenching](http://www.mat.ethz.ch/about_us/material_world/success_stories/bulk_metallic_glass/index) I’d never heard about these before you mentioned them, but they do sound pretty neat. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![bbeaty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@bbeaty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbeaty)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912/9 "2004-03-18T06:08:31Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > How much glass, if any, would be generated by a nuclear blast in the desert? The idea seems a bit dubious to me. Apparently an enormous amount of "desert glass’ has been generated by meteor strikes (or perhaps near misses). See what a google search finds: [http://www.google.com/search?q=“desert+glass”+%2Bmeteor](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22desert+glass%22+%2Bmeteor) ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912/10 "2004-03-18T12:34:40Z")
> [@sunfish](#): > > **David Simmons** - I googled “metallic glass” and found some university press releases and the like. Not the most in-depth explanations in the world, granted, but here are a few things to start with: > > [Metallic glass - material of the future?](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/03/980331074950.htm) > > [Metallic glass throws off sparks](http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/sparking-metallic-glass.html) > > [Microstructuring of bulk metallic glass by hot mold quenching](http://www.mat.ethz.ch/about_us/material_world/success_stories/bulk_metallic_glass/index) > > I’d never heard about these before you mentioned them, but they do sound pretty neat. 🆒 Course Star Trek got there first, transparent aluminium from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912/11 "2004-03-18T12:59:54Z")
Aye laddie, there is that. But transparent aluminum might be made by [making it porous](http://www.cheresources.com/transmetalzz.shtml) but not changing the crystal structure. What Mr. Simmons was asking for… now there’s a neat bit of work. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912/12 "2004-03-18T15:49:03Z")
Semi Hijack Lightning strikes can also turn sand to glass. The resulting substance is [fulgurite](http://www.bartleby.com/cgi-bin/texis/webinator/sitesearch?FILTER=col61&query=fulgurite). Fulgurite is brittle and must be dug out very carefully. If you can keep it whole, it looks exactly the way you’d expect lightning sculpted in glass to look. Here in Philly, The Academy Of Natural Sciences Museum has a piece on display. Sadly, they don’t have it on their website. I’ve found numerous sites selling fragments, but these don’t look remotely as impressive. [http://www.schoolersinc.com/fulgurites.htm](http://www.schoolersinc.com/fulgurites.htm) Has some decent fragments. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912/13 "2004-03-18T16:55:25Z")
Semi Hijack Pt. 2 I believe it was at Snow Canyon (Utah?) that a layer of volcanics were deposited on top of a quartz rich sandstone and the heat from the lava turned the top foot or so of the sandstone to glass. Very cool metamorphosis captured for all to see. While that’s the only example I’ve seen personally, the scenario seems so likely that I can’t imagine it not being present in more locales. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912/14 "2004-03-18T17:14:40Z")
> [@sunfish](#): > > **David Simmons** - I googled “metallic glass” and found some university press releases and the like. Not the most in-depth explanations in the world, granted, but here are a few things to start with: > > [Metallic glass - material of the future?](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/03/980331074950.htm) > > [Metallic glass throws off sparks](http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/sparking-metallic-glass.html) > > [Microstructuring of bulk metallic glass by hot mold quenching](http://www.mat.ethz.ch/about_us/material_world/success_stories/bulk_metallic_glass/index) > > I’d never heard about these before you mentioned them, but they do sound pretty neat. 🆒 Here you go: [http://www.discover.com/issues/apr-04/features/glassy-metals/?page=2](http://www.discover.com/issues/apr-04/features/glassy-metals/?page=2) Sounds like more reverse-engineered technology from the Roswell crash being released to the marketplace, if you ask me… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912/15 "2004-03-18T17:21:44Z")
**lieu,** that kind of metamorphism is called contact metamorphism, and it is indeed pretty common in environments where molten rock is erupted onto the landscape or intruded into older rocks. The process by which the material undergoing contact metamorphism to a glass is called vitrification. Wish I could remember the exact location, but there are some excellent examples of vitrification of volcanic ash deposits by later magmatic intrusions in road cuts south of Las Vegas. There the ash is light-colored and somewhat crumbly where it hasn’t been altered, getting progresively darker and glassier as you move toward the intrusion. (And let me tell you, shards of the glassy stuff do cut more sharply than any steel knife! It’s not a wonder that surgeons sometimes use obsidian, a volcanic glass, for scalpel blades.) ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-a-nuke-turn-the-desert-into-a-sheet-of-glass/234912/16 "2004-03-18T17:28:38Z")
Ah cool, **toadspittle,** thanks. What do you think inspired the release now…? 😉