fulgurite

Fulgurites (from the Latin fulgur meaning thunderbolt) are natural hollow carrot-shaped glass tubes formed in quartzose sand or soil by lightning strikes. In the right kind of sand the extreme heat generated will form silica glass shapes that trace the path of the lightning. The structures are also known as Petrified Lightning. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (426x1617, 603 KB) Summary Fulgurite I took this photo in october 2005 Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Fulgurite ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (426x1617, 603 KB) Summary Fulgurite I took this photo in october 2005 Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Fulgurite ... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Glass can be made transparent and flat, or into other shapes and colors as shown in this sphere from the Verrerie of Brehat in Brittany. ... Patterns in the sand Sand is a granular material made up of fine rock particles. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

The tubes can be up to a couple of centimeters in diameter, and meters long. Their colour varies depending on the composition of the sand they formed in, ranging from black or tan to green or a translucent white. The interior is normally very smooth or lined with fine bubbles; the exterior is generally coated with rough sand particles. They are rootlike in appearance and often show branching or small holes. Fulgurites occasionally form as glazing on solid rocks. Primary and secondary roots in a cotton plant In vascular plants, the root is that organ of a plant body that typically lies below the surface of the soil (compare with stem). ...

Fulgurites are a very rare phenomenon. A very large one was found in South Amboy, New Jersey. This was roughly nine feet long with a diameter of three inches near the surface of the ground, and tapered to roughly three sixteenths of an inch in diameter at the deepest point recovered. As is often the case due to the fragile nature of fulgurites, scientists were unable to extract it in one piece and the largest recovered fragment was a mere six inches long. South Amboy is a city located in Middlesex County, New Jersey. ... Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Area  Ranked 47th  - Total 8,729 sq mi (22,608 km²)  - Width 70 miles (110 km)  - Length 150 miles (240 km)  - % water 14. ...

Fulgurites are notably found high on Mount Thielsen ("the lightning rod of the Cascade Range") where they form a brownish-green glaze on rocks (especially on the final five or ten feet of the summit pinnacle) and on the shores of the Great Lakes. Mount Thielsen is a stratovolcano in southern Oregon that has been so deeply eroded by glaciers that there is no summit crater and the upper part of the mountain is more or less a horn. ... Mount Adams in Washington The Cascade Range is a mountainous region famous for its chain of tall volcanoes called the High Cascades that run north-south along the west coast of North America from British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to the Shasta Cascade area of northern California. ... The Great Lakes from space The Great Lakes are a group of five large lakes in North America on or near the Canada-United States border. ...

Possibly the finest fulgurite sample on display can be seen in Philadelphia, USA, at the Academy of Natural Sciences. It was discovered in 1940. Nickname: City of Brotherly Love, Philly, the City That Loves You Back, the Quaker City, The Birthplace of America Motto: Philadelphia maneto - Let brotherly love continue Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Mayor John F. Street (D... The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia was founded in 1812 to expand knowledge of the natural world. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ...

Petrified lightning featured in the movie Sweet Home Alabama where the lead male character 'Jake' attempts to manufacture fulgurite by placing metal poles into the sandy beach during a thunderstorm to channel the lightning into the ground. Something similar happened in 2004 on Memorial Day in Huntsville Alabama when lightning struck a high tension power pole. The lightning bolt travelled through the metal guy-wire into the sandy soil at the base of the pole forming a green coloured glassy substance. Sweet Home Alabama is a 2002 motion picture that tells the story of a woman who goes back to her home in Alabama to get divorced from her childhood sweetheart starring Reese Witherspoon and Josh Lucas. ... Relatives and others traditionally place flags near veterans headstones on Memorial Day Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday that is observed on the last Monday of May (most recently observed May 29, 2006). ... Nickname: Rocket City Watercress Capital of the World Coordinates: Country United States State Alabama County Madison, Limestone Mayor Loretta Spencer Area    - City 174. ... Official language(s) English Capital Montgomery Largest city Birmingham Area  Ranked 30th  - Total 52,419 sq mi (135,765 km²)  - Width 190 miles (306 km)  - Length 330 miles (531 km)  - % water 3. ... KVLY-TV mast, which is guy-wire supported. ...

The largest fulgurite known is at the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University, which has on display a 13 feet long fulgurite from the shores of Lake Congamond in northern Connecticut. The fulgurite has been on display at the Museum since the 1950s. It is viewable in the new Hall of Minerals, Earth and Space as of May, 2006.

External links

• Picture of fulgurite found in Arizona
• Fulgurites created by lightning triggered by rockets, by American artist Allan McCollum
• Interview (THE EVENT: PETRIFIED LIGHTNING FROM CENTRAL FLORIDA) with Allan McCollum and associated mass quantities of PDF's related to the subject.
• Lightning Makes Glass lecture by professor Vladimir A. Rakov, PhD (University of Florida, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering).
• Fulgurites as melted volcanic rock created by lightning hitting the summit of Shastina in northern California, by geologist Michael Diggles
• Glossary of Meteorology definitions (including Fulgurite).
• wvlightning.com definitions (including fulgurite).
• Petrified Lightning by Peter E. Viemeister (pdf)