So we glassed it, now what?

"Glassing" a planet is a common ultimate tactic in Science Fiction, basically it consists in using high power energy weapons to destroy all life on the planet and reducing the soil and rock of the surface of the world to several centimeters of a fused material, not dissimilar to this glass though generally it is described as being somewhat thicker than the deposits at Trinity.

Now this would appear to be a method one does not use if one wants to use the planet in question ever again but just how long would it take for a world to recover (recovery being measured as a return to widespread plant growth) from a glassing grade attack due to natural processes, without any technological intervention?

The answer to this question will vary greatly based upon the geology and climate of the world in question so assume an Earthlike world and assume that the oceans and atmosphere are, for all intents and purposes, completely intact. Life on the continents is destroyed and the ground fused to a depth of 3-4 centimetres and the edges of the ocean basins suffer some damage but otherwise ocean and purely atmosphere living organisms are intact.

posted about 7 years ago

Ash‭

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