Geophysicists have shown a quasicrystal formed by the explosion of the Trinity atomic bomb – photo

At the former nuclear test site in New Mexico, quasicrystals were discovered, which formed on July 16, 1945 after the first ever test of the Trinity atomic bomb. Quartz, feldspar, soil and other materials in the place of detonation melted and under shock and high pressure conditions formed vitreous red trinitite, writes Nature, citing research at PNAS.

Crystals are solids in which atoms are arranged regularly in a three-dimensionally periodic repeating spatial arrangement (crystal lattice). The quasicrystal also has a lattice, but it is not serial.

Researchers scanned the structure of an icosahedral quasicrystal about 1 cm in size and a previously unseen composition of Si₆₁With₃₀That₇Fe₂ under an electron microscope and shone through X-rays, but they say that the process of its formation is still a mystery to them.

But it turned out that the studied material consists mainly of silicon, calcium, iron and copper, and the latter gives it a red color. The authors believe that it appeared in trinitite from wires that were drawn to the bomb. This mineral is usually light green in color.

See also: Scientists found traces of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima on the beach

The investigated atomzite sample possesses a certain type of symmetry, which is not found anywhere else, except for quasicrystals. It is the oldest existing man-made quasicrystal known to science.

In addition to the sites of nuclear explosions, quasicrystals have been found in some meteorites and created in laboratories.

Видео: Los Alamos National Laboratory

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