A rare mineral produced when the shock wave from a meteorite passes through rock containing quartz. It is a form of silica produced at temperatures of 450–800°C and a pressure of 38 000 bar. Coesite-bearing sandstone fragments found in the vicinity of large craters are evidence that the crater is of meteoritic origin. It is named after the American chemist Loring Coes Jr (1915–78) who first synthesized it in 1953. See also stishovite.