The Nördlinger Ries Event
Approximately 14.7 million years ago, during the Miocene epoch, a rocky asteroid estimated at ~1 kilometer in diameter entered Earth's atmosphere at roughly 20 km/s (72,000 km/h) and struck what is now the Bavarian Plateau in southern Germany.
The impact released energy equivalent to 1.8 million Hiroshima bombs, excavating a crater 24 kilometers in diameter — the Nördlinger Ries — and a secondary crater at Steinheim (3.8 km). The town of Nördlingen sits inside this crater today.
The Glass Rain
The impact superheated terrestrial rock — sandstone, limestone, and other sediments — to temperatures exceeding 10,000°C. This molten material was ejected at hypersonic velocities into the upper atmosphere, some reaching suborbital trajectories.
As the molten glass re-entered the atmosphere, it cooled and solidified during flight, forming the characteristic aerodynamic shapes — drops, discs, ellipsoids, and dumbbells. These glass fragments rained down across a vast area of what is now Bohemia and Moravia in the Czech Republic, roughly 200–500 km northeast of the impact site.
This is moldavite — terrestrial rock reborn through extraterrestrial violence.
Scale of the Event
| Comparison | Scale |
|---|---|
| Nördlinger Ries impact | ~1.8 × 10²⁴ joules |
| Chicxulub (dinosaur extinction) | ~1,000× larger |
| Tunguska event (1908) | ~1,000× smaller |
| Largest nuclear weapon tested | ~35,000× smaller |