We measure the thickness of the heavy water layer trapped under the stresscorrosion fracture surface of silica using neutron reflectivity experiments. Weshow that the penetration depth is 65-85 \aa ngstr\"{o}ms, suggesting thepresence of a damaged zone of $\approx$ 100 \aa ngstr\"{o}ms extending ahead ofthe crack tip during its propagation. This estimate of the size of the damagedzone is compatible with other recent results.
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