Original photo by ecpseminiano/ iStock
There’s epic, and then there’s volcanic lightning, a phenomenon that sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie but is, in fact, real. Volcanic lightning is just what it sounds like: lightning that happens during a volcanic eruption, rather than a thunderstorm. It’s thought to occur in two contexts: either in dense clouds of ash near the ground or close to the stratosphere.
The first happens when individual ash particles rub together to form enough static electricity to generate a lightning bolt. The second is caused when plumes of water vapor and ash erupt with such force that they rise high enough to form ice crystals in colder air. Those ice crystals then generate static electricity as they collide with one another, leading to what’s also known as a “dirty thunderstorm.”
Oops, incorrect!
It's a fibThough there have been a few historic cases of simultaneous eruptions within 10 miles of one another, there’s no evidence that one caused the other.
The first known description of volcanic lightning is owed to Pliny the Younger, who wrote of the 79 CE Mount Vesuvius eruption that “there was a most intense darkness rendered more appalling by the fitful gleam of torches at intervals obscured by the transient blaze of lightning.” Vesuvius also happens to be where the first studies of volcanic lightning took place in 1858.
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The country with the most volcanoes is ______.
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The country with the most volcanoes is the United States.
More than 80% of the Earth’s surface is volcanic in origin.
There’s a high chance the spot you’re standing or sitting in right now is of volcanic origin. More than 80% of the planet’s surface is, whether above or below sea level. Though volcanos themselves aren’t exactly known for being hospitable, their countless eruptions over hundreds of millions of years have helped form the sea floors, mountains, and atmosphere that made Earth a life-supporting planet.
Michael Nordine is a writer and editor living in Denver. A native Angeleno, he has two cats and wishes he had more.
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