What effect does lightning have on sandy soil? A) It forms silica. B) It forms quartzite. C) It creates obsidian. D) It creates fulgurites.

The answer is D.

Incredibly, lightning can and does in fact create something amazing when it hits sand, but the conditions have to be perfect. When it hits a sandy beach high in silica or quartz and the temperature goes beyond 1800 degrees Celsius, the lighting can fuse the sand into silica glass. The blast of a billion Joules radiates through the ground making fulgurltes-hollow, glass-lined tubes with a sandy outside. Petrified lightning.