Lightning Impacted This Rock At Atomic Level
- 9 years ago
Researchers have found evidence suggesting that lightning, long known to potentially melt the outside of rocks it strikes, may actually change the physical composition of rock at the atomic level.
Rock fulgurite can leave a blackish-blue glaze over the surface of fractured rock caused by lightning striking and melting its surface. Experts have known about this transformative potential of lightning for quite some time.
But now researchers have discovered that lightning likely changes rocks in much more subtle ways as well.
Professor Reto Gieré and his colleagues studied a rocky outcropping in the south of France that had been struck by lightning. Their findings
Rock fulgurite can leave a blackish-blue glaze over the surface of fractured rock caused by lightning striking and melting its surface. Experts have known about this transformative potential of lightning for quite some time.
But now researchers have discovered that lightning likely changes rocks in much more subtle ways as well.
Professor Reto Gieré and his colleagues studied a rocky outcropping in the south of France that had been struck by lightning. Their findings