Fulgurite is a product of lightening.
It is formed by the fusion of sand
from a lightning strike.
Mr. Hawthorne finds these on the beach
in the four-wheel drive section
of the northern Outer Banks.
Some have shells fused in them.
Some are smooth and have holes in them.
They come in all different shapes and sizes.
Mr. Hawthorne found one torpedo-shaped piece
encrusted with shells that actually had a bomb in it.
Emergency management came and took it from us.
I imagine it's sitting on Sandy Sanderson's mantel now.
Natural sculptures.
Nature's works of art.
Broken terra cotta pot?
Don't throw it away.
Bury the broken side
and let it spew fulgurite.
Miss Rosie, those are so cool. I learn new things on your blog so often, thank you for sharing your knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI'm a veritable font of information, Dogmama. Mostly useless.
ReplyDeleteI had heard of fulgurite, but had never seen it before.
ReplyDeleteWith the seashells in them, I would assume these were worm tubes or coral rather than fulgurites. Very cool though.
ReplyDeleteTroy, whatever they are, I love 'em!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not fulgurite, but a nice collection anyway. Fulgurite is rare, relatively brittle, coarse, and tubular. Treasure it if you find it. The OBX tourguides are apparently handing out the ordinary beach stones as souvenirs, falsely claiming them to be fulgurite.
ReplyDeleteI agree with HansUM. These are ordinary concretions and fossiliferous limestone. It is the dominant bedrock in parts of coastal NC and is used as road bedding. It is quite amazing that ALL the rock, except for scarce quartzite pebbles, is simply mats of shell encased in limestone.
ReplyDelete