SAHARITE, THE FINEST FULGURITE - LIGHTNING CAPTURED IN GLASS. ...

Description

SAHARITE, THE FINEST FULGURITE - LIGHTNING CAPTURED IN GLASS
The result of an extraordinary phenomenon that allows us to grasp a lightning bolt, fulgurite is a glass created by lightning striking and melting the earth. In addition to mechanisms not fully understood, the formation of fulgurite is dependent upon both atmospheric humidity and pressure; the character, layering and dampness of the sand; the strike point's proximity to a water table and aspects of the discharge itself.

With a sprinkling of wheat-hued grains of sand fused to the molten cylinder, this is a superb example of Flared Saharite - the finest of the naturally-formed glasses created by a lightning strike. Fewer than 5% of all fulgurites from the Sahara are "flared" with highly-textured exteriors abounding in spikes and wildly looping projections. Although fulgurites often extend many feet into the ground, they invariably break into shorter pieces as a result of either the pressure of the surrounding sand on the glass while solidifying, the natural contraction of the glass while cooling, the force exerted by shifting sands, or by the simple act of unearthing them. With broad flanges and dense crenellations, a custom armature accompanies this superior example of a remarkable phenomenon. Recovered in the Sahara by Louis Carrion, one of the world's foremost fulgurite experts. 224 x 33 x 29 mm (9 x 1.25 x 1 inches).

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