Fulgurite: Lightning's Gift

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During our recent visit to the Outer Banks, we went to Jockey's Ridge State Park to attend Kitty Hawk Kites Hang-Gliding Lessons. It was shoulder season, in May, and we arrived on the tail end of a Nor'easter. Our instructor, Michael Vaughn, took us through ground school, distributed our safety gear, and walked us out to the same sand dunes that Orville and Wilbur Wright hang glided on as they successfully developed and then flew manned, powered craft to be first in flight.

Michael ultimately decided the weather, specifically the fast wind, made it unsafe for the gliders to fly and we rescheduled to return to continue our lessons later that afternoon. As this was being determined, though, we'd already made our way out to the sand dunes. I'd become accustomed to looking for agates in the Lake Superior area of Minnesota and spied a snake-like grey object at my feet.

Picking it up, I laid it flat in my palm and asked Michael what it was.

"Fulgurite," he declared. "It's difficult to spot, but that's what happens when lightning hits the sand."

I'd never heard of such a thing but spotted a few pieces before we returned to the storefront. I knew I'd have to learn more about it.

My longest piece, about four inches, broke in two on the return from the sand dunes. I ultimately found the car crannies to be the safest place for them.

Researching fulgurite, I learned that it is a crust of glass formed when lightning creating a temperature of at least 1,800C (3,272F) strikes and melts sand or rock. Most lightning, according to geology literature, have a temperature of 2,500 C (4,532F). The struck silica from sand or rock creates natural tubes. The shape of the fulgurite directly mimics the path of the lightning disbursement into the ground.

Mostly, I'm glad I wasn't there when the sand was struck by lightning.



Learning that this can occur with sand or rock made mountains obvious places for this phenomenon to occur. It's also mentioned on beaches. But not on sand dunes, and Jockey's Ridge happens to be the highest sand dunes along the east coast of North America.

Sand fulgurites, formed in beach or desert regions with clean, dry sand, look like tree roots or branching structures with a rough surface and salty-looking sand grains. Both the thickness of the sand bed and the strength of the lightning strike determine the size of a fulgurite. Most are an inch or two in diameter and can be more than two feet long.

The ones I found were about a half-inch in diameter and none longer than 6 inches.
They're very brittle. The interior looks like glass, likely due to the rapid cooling following the lightning strike. The jewelry I saw created from these sand fulgurites was mostly encased in silver or other fine wire to protect it from being handled or jostled too much which would cause it to break.

Rock fulgurites are more likely to be spotted as veins on a rock surface in the mountains, typically near the summit. I know I'll be looking for them the next time I go climbing, though I'll still avoid the summit in a storm. Mountain peaks are natural lightning rods, and I wouldn't want anyone to experience a lightning strike.

Since I spotted this my first time out on the sand dunes it is, of course, a "typical" thing in my experience. My research shows this is not the case, however. Despite our planet being struck by lightning more than one million times a day, fulgurites are rare.

Some consider fulgurites powerful high vibration stones that allow one to release habits that no longer serve a positive purpose. Others find value in their use to manifest visions through prayer. I'm all for clearing the psyche of any negativity and connecting with positive Divine energy.

Finding the fulgurite was another electrifying part of our trip to the Outer Banks. Pun intended. Let me know if you spot any on Bondi Beach.

#unusual_things_to_do
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