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Nature's glass artists: Volcanoes, lightning and meteorite impacts

Created 17/10/2025

Updated 17/10/2025

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We are all the beneficiaries of glass - from the vessels that hold our drinks, fiber optics that carry our communications, and the solar panels that convert the sun’s energy into electricity, contributing to a greener future, to name a few. But did you know glass can also be made in nature? Dramatic natural events like lightning strikes, volcanic eruptions and meteorite impacts can all produce glass. We find beautiful evidence of this here on Earth…and also on the Moon! The value of glass has been recognized with the United Nations declaring 2022 to be the International Year of Glass. Subsequently the school student theme for Australia’s National Science Week follows suit. Join Geoscience Australia, the ACT Education Directorate and the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences to explore forms of natural glass.

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Additional Info

Field Value
Title Nature's glass artists: Volcanoes, lightning and meteorite impacts
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/en/dataset/e820e6fa-bf31-4dd9-9548-a8ea071a328a
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 08/04/2019
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
{
  "coordinates": [
    [
      [
        112.0,
        -44.0
      ],
      [
        154.0,
        -44.0
      ],
      [
        154.0,
        -9.0
      ],
      [
        112.0,
        -9.0
      ],
      [
        112.0,
        -44.0
      ]
    ]
  ],
  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "Nature's glass artists: Volcanoes, lightning and meteorite impacts". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/natures-glass-artists-volcanoes-lightning-and-meteorite-impacts