WHOA!!
Mega Vulcanicity: When Volcanoes Spew Lightning
Several days ago, a volcano that had been dormant for 9,000 years near the coast of Chile erupted spectacularly, hurling liquified metals and lightning many miles into the sky. The results, which you see here, are called a “dirty thunderstorm,” and are quite rare. Nobody is certain what causes them, but according to National Geographic it’s believed to be “the result of rock fragments, ash, and ice particles in the plume collid[ing] to produce static charges—just as ice particles collide to create charge in regular thunderstorms.”
6 Responses
I had never heard of a dirty thunderstorm before. This photo is spectacular but I suspect it is also hellish.
Amazing picture. Thanks for sharing it. I’ve seen lots of images of this eruption, but not that one.
Dirty thunderstorm indeed.
Whoa, dude! That is AWESOME. Isn’t nature cool?
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that is so cool. i have heard of dirty thunder storms before, but i never thought they actually happened. this is probaly gonna be my desktop back ground now. thanks for sharing!
Shit that is fucken cool