Fulgurites

Is there natural "frozen lightning"?

Yes, they are called fulgurites. While the Lichtenberg figure is like frozen J-streamers in a cloud, a fulgurite is a frozen ground strike. Here is a description from the book All About Lightning by Martin A. Uman:
"When lightning strikes sand or certain kinds of rocks, the channel heat melts the material along its path. When the melted material solidifies, the resulting fulgurite (from Latin fulgur, meaning lightning) represents a permanent record of the lightning diameter and path. Fulgurites in dry sand are generally long hollow tubes with corrugated glassy walls."
They can be as long as 60 feet and have diameters from 1/2 to 2 inches. Artificial fulgurites have also been produced in the lab.


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