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When ordinary negative polarity cloud-ground lightning discharges into a grounding substrate, greater than 100 million volts (100 MV) of potential difference may be bridged. [2] Such current may propagate into silica -rich quartzose sand, mixed soil, clay , or other sediments, rapidly vaporizing and melting resistant materials within such a ...
Vitrified sand is a type of natural glass, contrasted with manufactured glass in which soda ash or potash are added to lower the melting point. Pure quartz melts at 1,650 °C (3,002 °F). There are several natural processes that produce more or less melted sand and one man-made form: Fulgurite is sand fused by a lightning bolt hitting sand.
Following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, it was discovered in 2016 that between 0.6% and 2.5% of sand on local beaches was fused glass spheres formed during the bombing. Like trinitite, the glass contains material from the local environment, including materials from buildings destroyed in the attack. The material has been called hiroshimaite ...
A lightning strike can also create a large Lichtenberg figure in grass surrounding the point struck. These are sometimes found on golf courses or in grassy meadows. [ 12 ] Branching root-shaped " fulgurite " mineral deposits may also be created as sand and soil are fused into glassy tubes by the intense heat of the current.
Not all lightning hits the ground; most of it stays within the clouds. When it does reach the ground, it travels at around 200,000 miles per hour. And for a brief moment, it heats the air around ...
Evidence of lightning activity can often be found in the paleomagnetic record. Lightning strikes are the result of tremendous charge buildup in clouds. This excess charge is transferred to the ground via lightning channels, which carry a strong electric current. Because of the intensity of this electric current, when lightning hits the ground ...
When lightning strikes someone, most of the current flashes across the surfac ... A ground current likely caused the deaths of more than 300 reindeer on the hillside of a mountain plateau in ...
When the dazzling 16-foot-high leaded stained- glass window arrived in Canton in 1913, it made front-page news—and postponed the new church’s dedication by a week because of a shipping delay.