Not every lightning strike produces a fulgurite. The soil must be rich in silica, like quartz sand or sandy clay, for the glass to form. Moisture in the ground can also help the process by ...

Inside towering clouds of volcanic ash, stunning lightning storms can create tiny crystal balls, a new study reports. Researchers recently discovered smooth glass spheres in ash from explosive ...

Lightning plus volcanic ash makes glass And other new Geology articles posted online ahead of print Feb. 27 and March 3, 2015 Peer-Reviewed Publication ...

Lightning plus volcanic ash make glass Date: March 3, 2015 Source: Geological Society of America Summary: Researchers have proposed a mechanism for the generation of glass spherules in geologic ...

Up to 24,000 people around the world die every year from lightning-related incidents, so you might think this natural phenomenon is something to be feared and avoided. That's not always the case ...

A glass ball formed during an experiment mimicking volcanic lightning conditions. (Image credit: Genareau et al., 2015) The round spherules from Mount Redoubt and Eyjafjallajökull are only 50 ...