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Heavy meteorite impacts on Earth’s surface produce melt and vapor that are quenched rapidly and scattered over wide areas as natural glasses with various shapes and characteristic chemistry, which are known as tektites and impact glasses. Their detailed formation conditions have long been debated using mineralogical and geochemical data and numerical simulations of impact melt formations. These impact processes are also related to the formation and evolution of planets. To unravel the formation conditions of impact-induced glasses, we performed shock recovery experiments on a tektite. Recovered samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy on the Ti K-edge. Results indicate that the densification by shock compression is subjected to post-shock annealing that alters the density and silicate-framework structures but that the local structures around octahedrally coordinated Ti ions remain in the quenched glass. The relationship between the average Ti-O distance and Ti K pre-edge centroid energy is found to distinguish the valance state of Ti ions between Ti4+ and Ti3+ in the glass. This relationship is useful in understanding the formation conditions of impact-derived natural glasses. The presence of Ti3+ in tektites constrains the formation conditions at extremely high temperatures or reduced environments. However, impact glasses collected near the impact sites do not display such conditions, but instead relatively mild and oxidizing formation conditions. These different formation conditions are consistent with the previous numerical results on the crater size dependence.

International audience; Carbonate minerals, for example calcite and magnesite, exist on the planetary surfaces of the Earth, Mars, and Venus, and are subjected to hypervelocity collisions. The physical properties of planetary materials at extreme conditions are essential for understanding their dynamic behaviors at hypervelocity collisions and the mantle structure of rocky planets including Super-Earths. Here we report laboratory investigations of laser-shocked calcite at pressures of 200-960 GPa (impact velocities of 12-30 km/s and faster than escape velocity from the Earth) using decay shock techniques. Our measured temperatures above 200 GPa indicated a large difference from the previous theoretical models. The present shock Hugoniot data and temperature measurements, compared with the previous reports, indicate melting without decomposition at pressures of ~110 GPa to ~350 GPa and a bonded liquid up to 960 GPa from the calculated specific heat. Our temperature calculations of calcite at 1 atm adiabatically released from the Hugoniot points suggest that the released products vary depending on the shock pressures and affect the planetary atmosphere by the degassed species. The present results on calcite newly provide an important anchor for considering the theoretical EOS at the extreme conditions, where the model calculations show a significant diversity at present.

The melting curve of vanadium at high pressure and temperature (P-T) is of great interest to our understanding of $d$-orbital transition metals with simple crystal structures at extreme P-T conditions. Here we have investigated the melting curve and crystal structures of polycrystalline vanadium at high P-T using synchrotron x-ray diffraction (XRD) in laser-heated diamond anvil cells (LH DACs) up to \ensuremath{\sim}100 GPa and \ensuremath{\sim}4400 K, a two-stage light-gas gun with in situ shock temperature measurements up to \ensuremath{\sim}256 GPa and \ensuremath{\sim}6200 K, and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) with density functional theory computations up to \ensuremath{\sim}200 GPa. The occurrence of the diffuse scattering signals in high P-T XRD patterns is used as the primary criterion to determine the melting curve of body-centered cubic (bcc) vanadium up to \ensuremath{\sim}100 GPa in LH DACs. Analysis of thermal radiation spectra of shocked vanadium using a quasispectral pyrometer constrains the melting curve up to \ensuremath{\sim}246 GPa and \ensuremath{\sim}5830 K, which is consistent with our static results using the Simon equation. The present static and dynamic experiments on the melting curve of vanadium are consistent with our AIMD simulations with the two-phase melting modeling, and are overall consistent with other theoretical simulations using the Z method. The results reconcile the recently reported theoretical discrepancy, and refute a higher melting curve report given by self-consistent ab initio lattice dynamics calculations. The consistencies among our studies indicate that one does not have to invoke superheating as a hypothesis to describe the solid-liquid equilibrium boundary of vanadium as an explanation for static vs dynamic experimental results. Our static and dynamic results with in situ diagnostics of melting and two-phase AIMD simulation have implications for studying melting curves of other $d$-orbital transition metals and their alloys at extreme P-T conditions.

Calcite (CaCO3) as a planetary material is a source to the atmospheric carbon dioxide through degassing by high-velocity impact events. Revealing the behavior of calcite in the extreme pressure and temperature conditions is required to understand the impact-induced degassing phenomena. Here we report laboratory investigations of shock- compressed calcite beyond the impact velocity of 12 km/s (faster than escape velocity from the Earth). The present precise shock measurements elucidate the shape of the calcite Hugoniot curve continuously passing through the melting and metallization states up to a pressure of 1000 GPa (= 10-million atmospheres) or a corresponding impact velocity of 30 km/s, allowing us to predict the post-shock residual temperatures and the dominant carbon oxide species in the impact aftermath. These predictions suggest that CO emission is much more dominant than CO2 at the impact velocities of ∼10 km/s and above, affecting the planetary atmospheric chemistry, greenhouse processes, and environmental changes during planetary evolution.

Abiotic synthesis of biomolecules is an essential step for the chemical origin of life. Many attempts have succeeded in synthesizing biomolecules, including amino acids and nucleobases (e.g., via spark discharge, impact shock, and hydrothermal heating), from reduced compounds that may have been limited in their availabilities on Hadean Earth and Noachian Mars. On the other hand, formation of amino-acids and nucleobases from CO2 and N2 (i.e., the most abundant C and N sources on Earth during the Hadean) has been limited via spark discharge. Here, we demonstrate the synthesis of amino acids by laboratory impact-induced reactions among simple inorganic mixtures: Fe, Ni, Mg2SiO4, H2O, CO2, and N2, by coupling the reduction of CO2, N2, and H2O with the oxidation of metallic Fe and Ni. These chemical processes simulated the possible reactions at impacts of Fe-bearing meteorites/asteroids on oceans with a CO2 and N2 atmosphere. The results indicate that hypervelocity impact was a source of amino acids on the Earth during the Hadean and potentially on Mars during the Noachian. Amino acids formed during such events could more readily polymerize in the next step of the chemical evolution, as impact events locally form amino acids at the impact sites.

Hugoniot of full-dense nanopolycrystalline diamond (NPD) was investigated up to 1600 GPa. The Hugoniot elastic limit of NPD is 208 ($\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}14$) GPa, which is more than twice as high as that of single-crystal diamond. The Hugoniot of NPD is stiffer than that of single-crystal diamond up to 500 GPa, while no significant difference is observed at higher pressures where the elastic precursor is overdriven by a following plastic wave. These findings confirm that the grain boundary strengthening effect recognized in static compression experiments is also effective against high strain-rate dynamic compressions.

A series of shock wave experiments were conducted to measure the optical properties of single-crystal diamond $\ensuremath{\langle}100\ensuremath{\rangle}$ in the pressure regime between 60 and 550 GPa. The results show that the transparency limit of diamond at 532 nm is $\ensuremath{\sim}170\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{GPa}$. When the applied pressure in diamond is lower than its Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL), diamond remains transparent during both compression and release processes. At the pressures between the HEL and the limit of its transparency, however, diamond is found to be transparent only while the compression is maintained and gradually loses its transparency during the subsequent release process. We also found that the refractive index of single-crystal diamond \ensuremath{\langle}100\ensuremath{\rangle} monotonically increases as density increases to the limit of its transparency, in contrast to the previous static reports on continuous decrease of refractive index with increasing pressure up to 40 GPa.

The physical properties of basic minerals such as magnesium silicates, oxides, and silica at extreme conditions, up to 1000 s of GPa, are crucial to understand the behaviors of magma oceans and melting in Super-Earths discovered to data. Their sound velocity at the conditions relevant to the Super-Earth’s mantle is a key parameter for melting process in determining the physical and chemical evolution of planetary interiors. In this article, we used laser indirectly driven shock compression for quartz to document the sound velocity of quartz at pressures of 270 GPa to 870 GPa during lateral unloadings in a high-power laser facility in China. These measurements demonstrate and improve the technique proposed by Li et al. [PRL 120, 215703 (2018)] to determine the sound velocity. The results compare favorably to the SESAME EoS table and previous data. The Grüneisen parameter at extreme conditions was also calculated from sound velocity data. The data presented in our experiment also provide new information on sound velocity to support the dissociation and metallization for liquid quartz at extreme conditions.

Perovskite La2Ti2O7 nanocrystalline powder was obtained through the shock synthesis method. In the study, La2O3 and TiO2 powders were mixed through ball milling and, subsequently, shocked by a flyer at a velocity of 3.2 km/s. After shock treatment, the sample was recovered and characterized via various techniques, such as x-ray diffraction, Raman, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflection spectrum analysis, to find the presence of La2Ti2O7 nanocrystalline powder with an average grain size of approximately 30 nm in the recovered samples with different yields. Moreover, the results further confirm that the high shock temperature and long ball milling treatment induce higher activation of precursors to improve the La2Ti2O7 content in the recovered samples. By adjusting the relative density of precursor and the ball milling period, pure La2Ti2O7 nanocrystalline powder was obtained. The formation mechanism of La2Ti2O7 was carefully illustrated. This study presents a new method to synthesize La2Ti2O7 nanocrystalline powder by detonation-driven flyer impact.

Shock pressure recorded in Yamato (Y)-790729, classified as L6 type ordinary chondrite, was evaluated based on high-pressure polymorph assemblages and cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra of maskelynite. The host-rock of Y-790729 consists mainly of olivine, low-Ca pyroxene, plagioclase, metallic Fe-Ni, and iron-sulfide with minor amounts of phosphate and chromite. A shock-melt vein was observed in the hostrock. Ringwoodite, majorite, akimotoite, lingunite, tuite, and xieite occurred in and around the shock-melt vein. The shock pressure in the shock-melt vein is about 14–23 GPa based on the phase equilibrium diagrams of high-pressure polymorphs. Some plagioclase portions in the host-rock occurred as maskelynite. Sixteen different CL spectra of maskelynite portions were deconvolved using three assigned emission components (centered at 2.95, 3.26, and 3.88 eV). The intensity of emission component at 2.95 eV was selected as a calibrated barometer to estimate shock pressure, and the results indicate pressures of about 11–19 GPa. The difference in pressure between the shock-melt vein and host-rock might suggest heterogeneous shock conditions. Assuming an average shock pressure of 18 GPa, the impact velocity of the parent-body of Y-790729 is calculated to be ~1.90 km s−1. The parent-body would be at least ~10 km in size based on the incoherent formation mechanism of ringwoodite in Y-790729.

Fast deformations in the quartz crystals during shock compression process have been investigated with two time-resolved methods of in-situ diffractions by x-ray free electron laser (XFEL) and large-scale molecular dynamic (MD) simulations in order to get insights in planar deformation feature (PDF) mechanism. PDFs in quartz provide strong evidence for impact and are used to estimate the impact conditions. The present experimental results on X-cut and Y-cut quartz single crystals at pressures below phase transition indicate ideal uniaxial compression and rotation of fractured grains to a direction to heat up locally due to dispersed particle velocity distribution in the dynamic movement. This could explain the observed disordering at given planes, as supported by the MD simulations.

Meteorites from interplanetary space often include high-pressure polymorphs of their constituent minerals, which provide records of past hypervelocity collisions. These collisions were expected to occur between kilometre-sized asteroids, generating transient high-pressure states lasting for several seconds to facilitate mineral transformations across the relevant phase boundaries. However, their mechanisms in such a short timescale were never experimentally evaluated and remained speculative. Here, we show a nanosecond transformation mechanism yielding ringwoodite, which is the most typical high-pressure mineral in meteorites. An olivine crystal was shock-compressed by a focused high-power laser pulse, and the transformation was time-resolved by femtosecond diffractometry using an X-ray free electron laser. Our results show the formation of ringwoodite through a faster, diffusionless process, suggesting that ringwoodite can form from collisions between much smaller bodies, such as metre to submetre-sized asteroids, at common relative velocities. Even nominally unshocked meteorites could therefore contain signatures of high-pressure states from past collisions., Meteorites from space often include denser polymorphs of their minerals, providing records of past hypervelocity collisions. An olivine mineral crystal was shock-compressed by a high-power laser, and its transformation into denser ringwoodite was time-resolved using an X-ray free electron laser.

Early oceans on Earth might have contained certain amounts of biomolecules such as amino acids, and they were subjected to meteorite impacts, especially during the late heavy bombardment. We performed shock recovery experiments by using a propellant gun in order to simulate shock reactions among olivine as a representative meteorite component, water and biomolecules in oceans in the process of marine meteorite impacts. In the present study, recovered solid samples were analyzed by using X-ray powder diffraction method, scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, and transmission electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry. The analytical results on shocked products in the recovered sample showed (1) morphological changes of olivine to fiber- and bamboo shoot-like crystals, and to pulverized grains; and features of lumpy surfaces affected by hot water, (2) the formation of carbon-rich substances derived from amino acids, and (3) the incorporation of metals from container into samples. According to the present results, fine-grained olivine in meteorites might have morphologically changed and shock-induced chemical reactions might have been enhanced so that amino acids related to the origin of life may have transformed to carbon-rich substances by impacts.

We report an experimental study of the phase diagrams of periclase (MgO), enstatite (MgSiO3) and forsterite (Mg2SiO4) at high pressures. We investigated with laser driven decaying shocks the pressure/temperature curves of MgO, MgSiO3 and Mg2SiO4 between 0.2-1.2 TPa, 0.12-0.5 TPa and 0.2-0.85 TPa respectively. A melting signature has been observed in MgO at 0.47 TPa and 9860 K, while no phase changes were observed neither in MgSiO3 nor in Mg2SiO4. An increasing of reflectivity of MgO, MgSiO3 and Mg2SiO4 liquids have been detected at 0.55 TPa -12 760 K, 0.15 TPa 7540 K, 0.2 TPa 5800 K, respectively. In contrast to SiO2, melting and metallization of these compounds do not coincide implying the presence of poor electrically conducting liquids close to the melting lines. This has important implications for the generation of dynamos in Super-earths mantles.

We determined the shock equation of state of CaF2 at pressures of ∼0.4–1.5 TPa using high-power laser shock techniques. The shock velocity-particle velocity was approximated by the universal Hugoniot relationship known to metallic fluids. Our results do not support the incompressible behavior above ∼100 GPa claimed previously. Warm dense CaF2 is a bonded liquid above the melting point and approaches an ideal fluid above ∼1 TPa. The measured reflectivity change of CaF2 at the shock front, similar to the other semiconducting liquids in the warm dense region, suggests a gradual metallization process due to the presence of delocalized electrons at high shock-front temperatures.

The emergence of life's building blocks on the prebiotic Earth was the first crucial step for the origins of life. Extraterrestrial delivery of intact amino acids and nucleobases is the prevailing hypothesis for their availability on prebiotic Earth because of the difficulties associated with the production of these organics from terrestrial carbon and nitrogen sources under plausible prebiotic conditions. However, the variety and amounts of these intact organics delivered by meteorites would have been limited. Previous shock–recovery experiments have demonstrated that meteorite impact reactions could have generated organics on the prebiotic Earth. Here, we report on the simultaneous formation of nucleobases (cytosine and uracil) found in DNA and/or RNA, various proteinogenic amino acids (glycine, alanine, serine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, valine, leucine, isoleucine, and proline), non-proteinogenic amino acids, and aliphatic amines in experiments simulating reactions induced by extraterrestrial objects impacting on the early oceans. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the formation of nucleobases from inorganic materials by shock conditions. In these experiments, bicarbonate was used as the carbon source. Bicarbonate, which is a common dissolved carbon species in CO 2 -rich atmospheric conditions, was presumably the most abundant carbon species in the early oceans and in post-impact plumes. Thus, the present results expand the possibility that impact-induced reactions generated various building blocks for life on prebiotic Earth in large quantities through the use of terrestrial carbon reservoirs.

Prebiotic oceans might have contained abundant amino acids, and were subjected to meteorite impacts, especially during the late heavy bombardment. It is so far unknown how meteorite impacts affected amino acids in the early oceans. Impact experiments were performed under the conditions where glycine was synthesized from carbon, ammonia, and water, using aqueous solutions containing (13)C-labeled glycine and alanine. Selected amino acids and amines in samples were analyzed with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS). In particular, the (13)C-labeled reaction products were analyzed to distinguish between run products and contaminants. The results revealed that both amino acids survived partially in the early ocean through meteorite impacts, that part of glycine changed into alanine, and that large amounts of methylamine and ethylamine were formed. Fast decarboxylation was confirmed to occur during such impact processes. Furthermore, the formation of n-butylamine, detected only in the samples recovered from the solutions with additional nitrogen and carbon sources of ammonia and benzene, suggests that chemical reactions to form new biomolecules can proceed through marine impacts. Methylamine and ethylamine from glycine and alanine increased considerably in the presence of hematite rather than olivine under similar impact conditions. These results also suggest that amino acids present in early oceans can contribute further to impact-induced reactions, implying that impact energy plays a potential role in the prebiotic formation of various biomolecules, although the reactions are complicated and depend upon the chemical environments as well.

The emergence of life's building blocks, such as amino acids and nucleobases, on the prebiotic Earth was a critical step for the beginning of life. Reduced species with low mass, such as ammonia, amines, or carboxylic acids, are potential precursors for these building blocks of life. These precursors may have been provided to the prebiotic ocean by carbonaceous chondrites and chemical reactions related to meteorite impacts on the early Earth. The impact of extraterrestrial objects on Earth occurred more frequently during this period than at present. Such impacts generated shock waves in the ocean, which have the potential to progress chemical reactions to form the building blocks of life from reduced species. To simulate shock-induced reactions in the prebiotic ocean, we conducted shock-recovery experiments on ammonium bicarbonate solution and ammonium formate solution at impact velocities ranging from 0.51 to 0.92 km/s. In the products from the ammonium formate solution, several amino acids (glycine, alanine, s-alanine, and sarcosine) and aliphatic amines (methylamine, ethylamine, propylamine, and butylamine) were detected, although yields were less than 0.1 mol % of the formic acid reactant. From the ammonium bicarbonate solution, smaller amounts of glycine, methylamine, ethylamine, and propylamine were formed. The impact velocities used in this study represent minimum cases because natural meteorite impacts typically have higher velocities and longer durations. Our results therefore suggest that shock waves could have been involved in forming life's building blocks in the ocean of prebiotic Earth, and potentially in aquifers of other planets, satellites, and asteroids.

Impact-induced dehydration of serpentine in primitive meteorites is believed to be a mechanism to provide water in terrestrial planets. Primitive meteorites show a wide range of porosity and it is necessary to know the effect of porosity on the dehydration. In this work we report the dynamic dehydration reaction in powdered samples of antigorite by shock recovery experiments, in which recovered samples were investigated using techniques of X-ray diffractions, electron microscopy, and thermal analyses of shock recovered samples. The present experimental results indicate that the dehydration reaction is weakly pressure-dependent below a peak shock pressure of ∼21 GPa and becomes violent at pressures of 21–60 GPa. The kinetics was found to be dependent on not only peak shock pressure but also the initial porosity and sample amount. We discuss the heterogeneous dehydration reactions based on the phases identified in the recovered samples, more than previously thought.

Nanocomposites fabricated using the toughest caged inorganic fullerene WS

The dynamic fracture of tantalum is observed at the atomic scale using an x-ray monitoring technique at the SACLA XFEL facility., The understanding of fracture phenomena of a material at extremely high strain rates is a key issue for a wide variety of scientific research ranging from applied science and technological developments to fundamental science such as laser-matter interaction and geology. Despite its interest, its study relies on a fine multiscale description, in between the atomic scale and macroscopic processes, so far only achievable by large-scale atomic simulations. Direct ultrafast real-time monitoring of dynamic fracture (spallation) at the atomic lattice scale with picosecond time resolution was beyond the reach of experimental techniques. We show that the coupling between a high-power optical laser pump pulse and a femtosecond x-ray probe pulse generated by an x-ray free electron laser allows detection of the lattice dynamics in a tantalum foil at an ultrahigh strain rate of ε. ~2 × 108 to 3.5 × 108 s−1. A maximal density drop of 8 to 10%, associated with the onset of spallation at a spall strength of ~17 GPa, was directly measured using x-ray diffraction. The experimental results of density evolution agree well with large-scale atomistic simulations of shock wave propagation and fracture of the sample. Our experimental technique opens a new pathway to the investigation of ultrahigh strain-rate phenomena in materials at the atomic scale, including high-speed crack dynamics and stress-induced solid-solid phase transitions.

Dense hydrous magnesium silicates (DHMSs) may play an important role in water transport during planetary accretion and as water reservoirs in the Earth’s deep mantle. We show that the dynamic decomposition products of antigorite, Mg3Si2O5(OH)4, can be interpreted as containing the newly discovered, dense hydrous silicate, phase H (MgSiO4H2). The Hugoniot for phase H was calculated based on the Hugoniots for its constituent oxides and equation of state data derived from first-principles calculations. The measured antigorite Hugoniot, previously suggested to decompose into high-pressure phases without generating fluid H 2O, was compared with those derived from calculations involving phase H. Sound velocity data were also compared to confirm that the dynamic breakdown product of antigorite at pressures above ∼40 GPa is most likely phase H plus MgO without formation of fluid H 2O.

The shock Hugoniot of an Fe-9 wt %Ni-10 wt %Si system as a model of the Earth's core has been measured up to ~280 GPa using a two-stage light-gas gun. The samples had an average density of 6.853 (±0.036) g/cm3. The relationship between shock velocity (Us) and particle velocity (up) can be described by Us (km/s) = 3.95 (±0.15) + 1.53 (±0.05) up (km/s). The calculated Hugoniot temperatures and the melting curve indicate that the model composition melts above a shock pressure of ~168 GPa, which is significantly lower than the shock-melting pressure of iron (~225 GPa). A comparison of the pressure-density (P-ρ) profiles between the model composition and the preliminary reference Earth model gives a silicon content close to 10 wt %, necessary to compensate the density deficit in the Earth's outer core from seismological observations, if silicon is present as a major light element in the Fe-Ni core system.

[1] The density data of silicate melts reported by static and shock compression have been compared quantitatively at the pressure condition of the Earth's deep upper mantle. The equation of state based on the static compression data cannot explain the shock compression data, and the systematic differences between them have been revealed. The shock temperatures were estimated with different methods among papers, and the reported values differed considerably from one another. The shock temperatures estimated by assuming phase-transition-like structural changes in melts lie between the previous estimates. Many of them are well below the liquidus temperatures of each sample, suggesting that the sample state may have been altered during the shock compression. In addition, some of the shock compression data reanalyzed in the recent paper differ considerably from the original. These results suggest that silicate melts show phase-transition-like structural changes at high pressures, which are consistent with the static compression data.

Antigorite is one kind of hydrous serpentine that is present in meteorites and in the Earth mantle. In order to understand its dynamic behaviors, metastability and decomposition, shock experiments on antigorite have been conducted using a two-stage gas gun, and wave profiles of particle velocities have been measured to obtain the Hugoniot up to ~130 GPa and sound velocity at high pressures. The results show three regions of low-pressure phase below ~43 GPa and its metastable extension above a pressure of ~43 GPa for short durations of shock and high-pressure phase(s) above a pressure of ~43 GPa for long durations of shock. The dynamic behaviors of antigorite depend on not only the pressure but also the compression duration. Metastable extension state indicates that antigorite may survive beyond the stability depending on the shock conditions. Shock temperatures for antigorite are calculated along the Hugoniot. The pressure–density, sound velocity–pressure and shock temperature–pressure plots demonstrate that the decomposition reaction of antigorite into high-pressure phase(s) is accompanied by a volume expansion, sound velocity increase and temperature decrease, relative to the metastable extension phase above ~43 GPa. The decomposition should be sluggish and needs enough reaction time to complete and to overcome the activation energy. As a result of the high metastability of antigorite and possible decomposition assemblages, the hydrous serpentine (antigorite) may play a crucial role for the origin of water during the Earth accretion.

Homochirality plays an important role in all living organisms but its origin remains unclear. It also remains unclear whether such chiral molecules survived terrestrial heavy impact events. Impacts of extraterrestrial objects on early oceans were frequent and could have affected the chirality of oceanic amino acids when such amino acids accumulated during impacts. This study investigated the effects of shock-induced heating on enantiomeric change of valine with minerals such as olivine ([Mg0.9, Fe0.1]2SiO4), hematite (Fe2O3), and calcite (CaCO3). With a shock wave generated by an impact at ~0.8 km/s, both d- and l-enriched valine were significantly decomposed and partially racemized under all experimental conditions. Different minerals had different shock impedances; therefore, they provided different P-T conditions for identical impacts. Furthermore, the high pH of calcite promoted the racemization of valine. The results indicate that in natural hypervelocity impacts, amino acids in shocked oceanic water would have decomposed completely, since impact velocity and the duration of shock compression and heating are typically greater in hypervelocity impact events than those in experiments. Even with the shock wave by the impact of small and decelerated projectiles in which amino acids survive, the shock heating may generate sufficient heat for significant racemization in shocked oceanic water. However, the duration of shock induced heating by small projectiles is limited and the population of such decelerated projectiles would be limited. Therefore, even though impacts of asteroids and meteorites were frequent on the prebiotic Earth, impact events would not have significantly changed the ee of proteinogenic amino acids accumulated in the entire ocean.

N. J. Hartley, N. Ozaki, T. Matsuoka, B. Albertazzi, A. Faenov, Y. Fujimoto, H. Habara, M. Harmand, Y. Inubushi, T. Katayama, M. Koenig, A. Krygier, P. Mabey, Y. Matsumura, S. Matsuyama, E. E. McBride, K. Miyanishi, G. Morard, T. Okuchi, T. Pikuz, O. Sakata, Y. Sano, T. Sato, T. Sekine, Y. Seto, K. Takahashi, K. A. Tanaka, Y. Tange, T. Togashi, Y. Umeda, T. Vinci, M. Yabashi, T. Yabuuchi, K. Yamauchi, and R. Kodama , "Ultrafast observation of lattice dynamics in laser-irradiated gold foils", Appl. Phys. Lett. 110, 071905 (2017) https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4976541., We have observed the lattice expansion before the onset of compression in an optical-laser-driven target, using diffraction of femtosecond X-ray beams generated by the SPring-8 Angstrom Compact Free-electron Laser. The change in diffraction angle provides a direct measure of the lattice spacing, allowing the density to be calculated with a precision of ±1%. From the known equation of state relations, this allows an estimation of the temperature responsible for the expansion as