M E T A L M A N 9

M E T A L M A N 9

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February 5, 2024 Fulgurites

February 5, 2024 Fulgurites

February 5, 2024 Fulgurites. Metal detecting is a never ending series of new discoveries and about learning about something new and or never seen before. This was the case, again, for me. Fulgurites or a Fulgurite. Forget Cornballs, what in the world is a Fulgurite? Much like my personal discovery of horseshoe nails. Sometimes it takes an outside source or some expert to point out the obvious. Obvious of course to someone who has knowledge or experience. In this specific case, it boiled down to a lot of luck and a bunch of research. So, to the best of my abilities, I introduce you to Fulgurites. Lightning is a very powerful force in nature. Between the incredibly high amperage and the heat (may exceed 50,000 °F (27,800 °C), and the speed at which this all occurs, lightning and more specifically lightning hits to the ground can cause strange things to happen. Trees blow up, buildings and boats catch fire, cattle and sometimes people are killed. And sometimes Fulgurites are created. More to the point, under the right conditions, a lightning bolt hits the ground and an incredible amount of energy is transferred into the soil. This results in a very small space being super-heated in a fraction of a second. And yes, the results, depending on a variety of factors, can create a fulgurite. The soil itself melts and fuses into what is called a Lichtenberg Figure or a pattern of where the electrical charge travelled. Lightning strikes on beach sand, sand being silica, can create delicate glass like Fulgurites. The farm soil where I found these 3 Fulgurites seem to contain enough metals, probably iron, aluminium, magnesium etc. to both fuse into a solid mass and is detectable with a metal detector. Surprisingly however, the ones I have are not magnetic. The larger one has the distinct green of oxidized copper. It also has a distinct curved shape on the inside so it might have fused around a secondary piece of material which I think may have been concrete. A close examination of all three items also shows ordinary rocks and pebbles also fused right into the Fulgurite. The first time I found one of these, I assumed it to be slag and molten metal drippings from someone’s welding activity. When I found the large one, I had no idea what to make of it other than it was found at the base of a tree or was it a hydro pole? Hint hint… lightning strike. See: July 18, 2020 - Ste. Elizabeth . The copper tinge might have come from the lightning grounding wire on the pole. It was not until I happened across a YouTube video about lightning strikes that I put the idea together and hit the research trail. Fulgurites. They are not common but not rare either. Pure luck is probably the biggest factor in finding these which brings us back to the fun of the hunt. Metal detecting… never a dull moment. Roger Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgurite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichtenberg_figure