This is what happens when a parasitic fungus replaces all the tissue of a tarantula! Have you ever heard the name fulgurite? A fulgurite is a tube of fused sand caused by a lightning strike. Every time we get it wrong, it’s a missed opportunity for education. When a lightning bolt strikes the ground, the energy travels beneath the ground and fulgurites are formed. They often look a bit like plant roots. Fulgurite: What Happens When Lightning Strikes Sand | Amazing Images. When such a powerful lightning bolt strikes a sandy area like a beach or a dune, the sand particles can melt and fuse together in less than a second. But nature’s ability to astound has us jumping at every weirdness no matter its scientific validity. Image of the Week #99, July 8th, 2013: From: What Really Happens When Lightning Strikes Sand: The Science Behind a Viral Photo by Kyle Hill at Overthinking It. Sadly, this picture was part of an internet hoax that circulated in 2013. Lightning is a terrific and powerful force, folks. It is almost always accompanied by thunder. Is this what happens when lightning hits sand? However, the conditions must be perfect for it to create an amazing structure: when the lightning strikes a sandy beach that has high quantities of silica or quartz, at a temperature higher than 1800°C, the sand can fuse into a phenomenon known as silica glass. The strike vaporizes the sand to make unique geologic creations. What Happens When Lightning Strikes Sand Lightning is a natural electric discharge of very high voltage between a cloud and the ground, or within a cloud, with a bright flash in the sky. And … When lightning strikes sand, it can create something beautiful, but not this viral photo. When lightning strikes sand on the beach or in a desert, it creates glass tubes called fulgurites. We also know that when lightning strikes sand, it can create a spectacular work of art. Close up of the hollow opening of a fulgurite. It pierces the ground, splintering as it lances the sand. Petrified Lightning or “Fulgurite” is exactly that, Glass made by lighting! Video: . Fulgurite left behind by lightning is a veiny, organic looking artifact made of sand that’s been superheated and then quickly cooled. It turns out that when lightning hits sand, it makes little holes in it. It’s the name given to the hollow glass tubes often formed during lightning strikes in certain types of sand, silica, or soil. Fulgurites are hallow and shapes and sizes may vary from the energy that the bolt released. Hot enough that it can melt and fuse sand, silica, and some soils! They are formed when lightning with a temperature of at least 1,800 °C (3,270 °F) instantaneously melts silica on a conductive surface and fuses grains together; the fulgurite tube is the cooled product. It can cause a temperature spike of up to 30,000 degrees Celsius, which is hotter than the surface of the Sun! 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