Morphology and Composition of Fulgurite and Comparison with Similar Natural Materials
Zhou Yuxin
Wang Jiaqi
Li Chun
Abstract：Fulgurites are natural glass material which is formed when lightning strikes and melts the ground and the super high temperature fuses and vitrifies mineral grains.The fulgurite was seldom studied in China due to the rareness of the specimens. By using several new technologies such as CT scanning,3-D reconstruction of the interior structure and electron probe microa-nalysis,the results reveal the detailed morphology of both the external and interior structures of the fulgurite as well as its min-eral composition.Its external surface is complex and coarse while the internal surface is bright and different from the internal surface in color.The internal surface is full of foramina,and can be classed into three types:fully run-through,partially closed,and completely closed.The fulgurite has the dominant composition of SiO 2 ,with only small proportion of other metal elements.It also was compared with volcanic glass and tektite and determined that a tubular structured stone from Inner Mon-golia is not fulgurite.This paper provides some basic data for future study and application of the fulgurite.
Keywords：fulguritevolcanic glasstektitetubular structuresilicon dioxidepetrology
Publication Date：2017-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：6( 2276-2281 )