Unusual features caused by lightning impact in West Greenland
Two lightning impacts are described from an area near the Inland Ice in West Greenland. The first lightning blasted an outcrop of metacherts. It subsequently split into two branches, which traversed rock outcrops and boulders, leaving behind two white almost straight lines, 30 m and 14 m long, respe...
Published in: | Geological Magazine |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2006
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016756806002391 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0016756806002391 |
id |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0016756806002391 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0016756806002391 2024-03-03T08:44:57+00:00 Unusual features caused by lightning impact in West Greenland APPEL, PETER W. U. ABRAHAMSEN, NIELS RASMUSSEN, THORKILD M. 2006 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016756806002391 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0016756806002391 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Geological Magazine volume 143, issue 5, page 737-741 ISSN 0016-7568 1469-5081 Geology journal-article 2006 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0016756806002391 2024-02-08T08:42:27Z Two lightning impacts are described from an area near the Inland Ice in West Greenland. The first lightning blasted an outcrop of metacherts. It subsequently split into two branches, which traversed rock outcrops and boulders, leaving behind two white almost straight lines, 30 m and 14 m long, respectively, where all lichens and plants were burned away. On the white lines the upper few millimetres of the traversed boulders were melted to a glass which subsequently peeled off by thermal expansion to leave a rough surface. Magnetic investigation of an amphibolite boulder found on the white line showed that a strong electric current indeed traversed the boulder. A few years later a second lightning impacted on a mountaintop close to the first impact. The second lightning left a trail on the rock surface covered by a thin layer of glass. The glass displays spectacular colours ranging from metallic blue to red, yellow and green. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Cambridge University Press Greenland Geological Magazine 143 5 737 741 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology |
spellingShingle |
Geology APPEL, PETER W. U. ABRAHAMSEN, NIELS RASMUSSEN, THORKILD M. Unusual features caused by lightning impact in West Greenland |
topic_facet |
Geology |
description |
Two lightning impacts are described from an area near the Inland Ice in West Greenland. The first lightning blasted an outcrop of metacherts. It subsequently split into two branches, which traversed rock outcrops and boulders, leaving behind two white almost straight lines, 30 m and 14 m long, respectively, where all lichens and plants were burned away. On the white lines the upper few millimetres of the traversed boulders were melted to a glass which subsequently peeled off by thermal expansion to leave a rough surface. Magnetic investigation of an amphibolite boulder found on the white line showed that a strong electric current indeed traversed the boulder. A few years later a second lightning impacted on a mountaintop close to the first impact. The second lightning left a trail on the rock surface covered by a thin layer of glass. The glass displays spectacular colours ranging from metallic blue to red, yellow and green. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
APPEL, PETER W. U. ABRAHAMSEN, NIELS RASMUSSEN, THORKILD M. |
author_facet |
APPEL, PETER W. U. ABRAHAMSEN, NIELS RASMUSSEN, THORKILD M. |
author_sort |
APPEL, PETER W. U. |
title |
Unusual features caused by lightning impact in West Greenland |
title_short |
Unusual features caused by lightning impact in West Greenland |
title_full |
Unusual features caused by lightning impact in West Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Unusual features caused by lightning impact in West Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Unusual features caused by lightning impact in West Greenland |
title_sort |
unusual features caused by lightning impact in west greenland |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016756806002391 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0016756806002391 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland |
genre_facet |
Greenland |
op_source |
Geological Magazine volume 143, issue 5, page 737-741 ISSN 0016-7568 1469-5081 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0016756806002391 |
container_title |
Geological Magazine |
container_volume |
143 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
737 |
op_container_end_page |
741 |
_version_ |
1792500477695361024 |