Description
Moldavite is an amorphous tektite consisting of a green, glassy natural material. Its hardness on the Mohs scale (1 to 10, with diamond having a value of 10) is 6.5 to 6.9. Moldavite was formed approximately 15 million years ago by the impact of two meteorites, 1.5 km and 150 meters in diameter respectively, which struck simultaneously at an angle of 30-50 degrees to the Earth's surface at a speed of about 20 km/second. The Nördlinger Ries and the Steinheim crater in southern Germany, respectively, are almost certainly the impact craters of these meteorites. These impacts released an enormous amount of energy, equivalent to 1.8 million times that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Enormous pressures were reached at temperatures exceeding 30,000 degrees Celsius. This melted large quantities (totaling approximately 150 km³) of sand and soil and propelled them into space. After re-entering the atmosphere, these fragments of terrestrial matter, mixed with the extraterrestrial matter, solidified and fell back to the ground in a so-called "scattered area" that roughly covers the Czech Republic. A very small portion of this solidified into moldavite. Contrary to popular belief, moldavite is found in several locations in the Czech Republic. Smaller scattered areas, independent of the one in the Czech Republic, are located in northern Austria and parts of Germany bordering the Czech Republic. The most valuable moldavite is found in the upper Vltava River, in the south of the Czech Republic. It has a green color with small inclusions. This stone is also called the Czech emerald and is set in the Czech crown jewels. The stones found in Moravia are brown and less valuable. Because the moldavite deposits are rapidly being depleted, this stone is becoming increasingly valuable.
Moldavite
