the advanced sequence of burning fuels is driven by gravitational collapse and its associated heating, resulting in the subsequent burning of carbon, oxygen and silicon. however, most of the nucleosynthesis in the mass range (from silicon to nickel) is actually caused by the upper layers of the star collapsing onto the core, creating a compressional shock wave rebounding outward. the shock front briefly raises temperatures by roughly 50%, thereby causing furious burning for about a second. this final burning in massive stars, called "explosive nucleosynthesis" or supernova nucleosynthesis, is the final epoch of stellar nucleosynthesis.