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What creates unusual lightning?
Ball and Volcanic Lightning
Understanding ball lightning and volcanic lightning is important for several reasons not least of which it does not fit within the conventional theory of lightning formation. If one can explain the cause of these two unusual types of lightning within the parameters of a theory then it will give credence to the overall theory.
Ball Lightning
Ball lightning is developed within the confines of a thunderstorm, as ice particles form as described previous the sulfate particle is coated with super-cooled water to form an ice particle or hail. As this process occurs carbon is collected in the hail, this carbon because of its hydrophobic nature does not dissolve in water but resides on its surface. Other particles such as dust also collect in the hail as it grows. If the atmosphere has an extraordinary amount of dust and carbon content the hail can become saturated with it forming a dirty snow or ice-ball. If this grows large enough as it descends down through the thunderstorm it may be struck by inter-cloud lightning. Under the correct situation this can cause the sulfur, carbon, water and dust to form a reactive plasma ball of burning sulfur, dust and carbon. Many accounts of ball lightning have been report and a common theme has been reported which involved the smell of sulfur which commonly comes from the formation of hydrogen sulfide and this would occur in this situation plasma situation. The amount of time that this may last could be several seconds or longer depending on the amount of carbon and dust in the hail.
Ball lightning is described as a floating, illuminated ball that occurs during thunderstorms. They can be fast moving, slow moving or nearly stationary. Some make hissing or crackling noises or no noise at all. Some have been known to pass through windows and even dissipate with a bang. Ball lightning has been described by eyewitnesses but rarely recorded by meteorologists.[42]
The engineer Nikola Tesla wrote, "I have succeeded in determining the mode of their formation and producing them artificially".[43] There is some speculation that electrical breakdown and arcing of cotton and gutta-percha wire insulation used by Tesla may have been a contributing factor, since some theories of ball lightning require the involvement of carbonaceous materials. Some later experimenters have been able to briefly produce small luminous balls by igniting carbon-containing materials atop sparking Tesla Coils.
Several theories have been advanced to describe ball lightning, with none being universally accepted. Any complete theory of ball lightning must be able to describe the wide range of reported properties, such as those described in Singer's book "The Nature of Ball Lightning" and also more contemporary research. Japanese research shows that several instances have been reported of ball lightning without any connection to stormy weather or lightning.
Ball lightning is typically 20 – 30 cm (8-12 inches) in diameter, but ball lightning several metres in diameter has been reported.[44] Ball lightning has been seen in tornadoes, and has also been seen to split apart into two or more separate balls and recombine, and vertically-linked fireballs have been reported.[citation needed] Ball lightning has carved trenches in the peat swamps in Ireland.[citation needed] Because of its strange behaviour, ball lightning has been mistaken for alien spacecraft by many witnesses, which often spawns UFO reports. One theory that may account for this wider spectrum of observational evidence is the idea of combustion inside the low-velocity region of axisymmetric (spherical) vortex breakdown of a natural vortex (e.g., the 'Hill's spherical vortex').[45]
Ball lightning apparently is created when lightning strikes silicon in soil, and has been created in a lab in this manner.
Volcanic Lightning
Understanding volcanic lightning requires an understanding of what causes a volcano to explosively erupt in the first place. It has been shown that volcanoes erupt because of the pressure of water as it is superheated above the magma dome in the volcano. This creates high pressure steam that lifts and swells the volcano until it opens a path to the surface as this occurs the partial pressure of expansion causes an explosive eruption to occur which blasts the volcano to life as seen in the picture below.
As this process occurs huge quantities of sulfur, water and hydrogen are placed in the atmosphere that allows the lightning process to occur. As was discussed in the Positive Lightning Section if the cloud is positive compared to the ground lightning will occur as electrons flow to satisfy the positive potential. This will also occur in the dust cloud as it fills with both positive and negative ions. Because sulfur and water are mixed at very high temperature sulfate will form and dissociate very rapidly causing O-2 to be produced which will aid in the lightning process.
