We report a characterization of fullerite surface modification by cumulative laser irradiation. We show that the nano- and mesostructure of the transformed material are related and that they depend on the laser wavelength and fluence. Irradiating the sample at 1064 nm we observe periodic exfoliation of the transformed surface which is composed, on a nanometer scale, of a network of graphitic elongated nanoparticles. Under UV irradiation, the nanostructure is characterized by tangled graphene layers and cone formation is observed on a mesoscopic scale. Our observations show that different destabilization mechanisms ofC60produce coalescence pathways towards different nanostructures and mesoscopic morphologies. ©1998 American Institute of Physics.