A vitrified sand tube produced by the striking of lightning on sand; a lightning tube; also, the portion of rock surface fused by a lightning discharge.
tunnel-like structure formed when a current-limiting fuse operates; glass-like structure formed by the temperature of a high voltage arc when a current-limiting fuse operates; the fused silica sand that remains after prolonged abnormal current flow.
a long slender glass tube formed by lightning striking sand. natural glass IGCB
The glassy tubes formed when lightning strikes the ground, particularly sandy deposits, and fuses the particles together.
partially fused sand in the form of long, slender glass tubes formed by lightning striking unconsolidated sand or soil. [AHDOS
A glassy, rootlike tube formed when a lightning stroke terminates in dry sandy soil. The intense heating of the current passing down into the soil along an irregular path fuses the sands. Concurrently, vaporization of soil moisture and possibly even vaporization of the sandy materials causes the molten material to be expanded into a tube with a diameter that may be over 2.5 cm (1 in), but with a very thin wall. Fulgurites have been recovered in lengths of over 1.5 m (5 ft).
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.
