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Fulgurites from Dona Ana County, New Mexico

To the left, fulgurite sections just as I found them at Potrillo Maar, New Mexico. Below, close-up images of some of the sections.

For those of you unfamiliar with fulgurites; they are the result of lightning striking the earth and locally melting the sand. As the lightning strikes the ground, and passes downward through the sand, the sand is instantly superheated, and fused into twisting branching tubes. The tubes take on shapes that decrease in size as they descend into the sand. The fulgurites may be nearly hollow, or nearly solid tubes of fused glass-like material. The exterior of the fulgurites are often rough with adhering, unfused sand. The fulgurites I found, shown above, are nearly solid. Careful examination of the cross sections using a hand lense will show 0.5-1.0 mm hollow tubes that seem to extend the length of the fulgurite (and out the branch points). The fused earth resulted in a creamy-white porcelain-like material that is coated with unfused sand paticles. Maybe these fulgurites aren't gem-quality peridot, but they are just about as rare and certainly are unusual. If you would like to obtain one, I have some for sale on my Minerals web page.