The response of zircon to the extreme pressures and temperatures of a lightning strike

Abstract Hypervelocity impacts can produce features in zircon that are not normally produced by endogenic processes. However, lightning can also induce extreme pressure–temperature excursions, and its effect on zircon has not been studied. With the aim to recognise features that form in response to...

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Autores principales:	Gavin G. Kenny, Matthew A. Pasek
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/186e0840bd964c5889336511f0816de1
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:186e0840bd964c5889336511f0816de12021-12-02T14:12:42ZThe response of zircon to the extreme pressures and temperatures of a lightning strike10.1038/s41598-021-81043-82045-2322https://doaj.org/article/186e0840bd964c5889336511f0816de12021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81043-8https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Hypervelocity impacts can produce features in zircon that are not normally produced by endogenic processes. However, lightning can also induce extreme pressure–temperature excursions, and its effect on zircon has not been studied. With the aim to recognise features that form in response to extreme pressure–temperature excursions but are not unique to hypervelocity impacts, we imaged and undertook microstructural characterization of zircon in a fulgurite (a tubular body of glass and fused clasts that formed in response to a lightning strike). We document zircon with granular ZrO2 and rims of vermicular ZrO2, features which vary in abundance with increasing distance from the fulgurite’s central void. This indicates that these features formed in response to the lightning strike. Zircon dissociation to ZrO2 and SiO2 is a high-temperature, relatively low-pressure phenomenon, consistent with previous suggestions that lightning strikes involve extreme temperatures as well as pressures greater than those usually generated in Earth’s crust but rarely > 10 GPa. The rims of monoclinic ZrO2 record crystallographic evidence for precursor cubic ZrO2, demonstrating that cubic ZrO2 is not unique to hypervelocity impacts. Given the likelihood that this fulgurite experienced pressures of, at most, a few GPa, evidence for cubic ZrO2 indicates peak temperatures > 2000 °C.Gavin G. KennyMatthew A. PasekNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Gavin G. Kenny Matthew A. Pasek The response of zircon to the extreme pressures and temperatures of a lightning strike
description	Abstract Hypervelocity impacts can produce features in zircon that are not normally produced by endogenic processes. However, lightning can also induce extreme pressure–temperature excursions, and its effect on zircon has not been studied. With the aim to recognise features that form in response to extreme pressure–temperature excursions but are not unique to hypervelocity impacts, we imaged and undertook microstructural characterization of zircon in a fulgurite (a tubular body of glass and fused clasts that formed in response to a lightning strike). We document zircon with granular ZrO2 and rims of vermicular ZrO2, features which vary in abundance with increasing distance from the fulgurite’s central void. This indicates that these features formed in response to the lightning strike. Zircon dissociation to ZrO2 and SiO2 is a high-temperature, relatively low-pressure phenomenon, consistent with previous suggestions that lightning strikes involve extreme temperatures as well as pressures greater than those usually generated in Earth’s crust but rarely > 10 GPa. The rims of monoclinic ZrO2 record crystallographic evidence for precursor cubic ZrO2, demonstrating that cubic ZrO2 is not unique to hypervelocity impacts. Given the likelihood that this fulgurite experienced pressures of, at most, a few GPa, evidence for cubic ZrO2 indicates peak temperatures > 2000 °C.
format	article
author	Gavin G. Kenny Matthew A. Pasek
author_facet	Gavin G. Kenny Matthew A. Pasek
author_sort	Gavin G. Kenny
title	The response of zircon to the extreme pressures and temperatures of a lightning strike
title_short	The response of zircon to the extreme pressures and temperatures of a lightning strike
title_full	The response of zircon to the extreme pressures and temperatures of a lightning strike
title_fullStr	The response of zircon to the extreme pressures and temperatures of a lightning strike
title_full_unstemmed	The response of zircon to the extreme pressures and temperatures of a lightning strike
title_sort	response of zircon to the extreme pressures and temperatures of a lightning strike
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/186e0840bd964c5889336511f0816de1
work_keys_str_mv	AT gavingkenny theresponseofzircontotheextremepressuresandtemperaturesofalightningstrike AT matthewapasek theresponseofzircontotheextremepressuresandtemperaturesofalightningstrike AT gavingkenny responseofzircontotheextremepressuresandtemperaturesofalightningstrike AT matthewapasek responseofzircontotheextremepressuresandtemperaturesofalightningstrike
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The response of zircon to the extreme pressures and temperatures of a lightning strike

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