By replicating the lightning seen at the throats of erupting volcanoes, scientists have found that a greater abundance of fine particles spewing out of an eruption creates more lightning.
Corrado Cimarelli of Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany, and his colleagues simulated a volcanic eruption by placing ash in a shock tube — an instrument that generates blasts. Drastically decompressing the ash caused it to explode upwards into a tank.
High-speed cameras and other instruments captured a rare glimpse of the lightning that formed (pictured).
Clustering of charged particles in the ash jet triggers electrical discharges, the authors propose.
Geology http://doi.org/qfz (2013)
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Volcanic lightning made in the lab. Nature 504, 335 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/504335a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/504335a
