Survival of reactive carbon through meteorite impact melting
Melt fragments in melt breccias from the Gardnos impact crater, Norway, contain abundant carbon. A high proportion of the carbon present in the original melt was preserved. The stripping of hydrogen from carbon during melting prevents later hydrocarbon formation, hence the carbon is fixed in place rather than volatilized. Underlying lithic breccias that were not melted record hydrocarbon generatio