Lonsdaleite is a hexagonal polymorph of the carbonallotropediamond, believed to form when meteoricgraphite falls to Earth. The great heat and stress of the impact transforms the graphite into diamond, but retains graphite's hexagonal crystallattice. Lonsdaleite is currently found only in Barringer Crater (also known as Meteor Crater) in Arizona and at Canyon Diablo[?]. It was first discovered in 1967.
Lonsdaleite is also known as "hexagonaldiamond." It has an index of refraction from 2.40 to 2.41, a density from 3.2 to 3.3, and a hardness of 3.00.
All Wikipedia text
is available under the
terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
Search Encyclopedia
Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
... February 11 - Sir Keith Holyoake, New Zealand Prime Minister (1960-1972)
February 20 - Alexei Kosygin[?], Premier of the Soviet Union[?] (+ 1980)
February 25 - ...