Mushroom+Cloud

=Michael T's Mushroom Cloud Page=

**What causes mushroom clouds?**
Hiroshima Mushroom Cloud, Aug. 6 1945 April 20, 1990 Volcanic Eruption, Redoubt Volcano Trinity Nuclear Test, [|Alomogordo]NM 1947

Mushroom clouds form when very hot air rapidly rises upward. The 'cloud' actually contains very little water, but rather is made of dust and debris. The characteristic mushroom shape comes from encountering more stable layers of atmosphere above, so the cloud spreads out. ([|wisegeek.com])

Mushroom clouds can be created by volcanic eruptions, large meteorite or comet impacts, very large conventional weapons, or atomic bombs. The black and white photos above show nuclear weapons detonating.

Hiroshima: mushroom cloud over Hiroshima, 1945. [Photograph]. In //Encyclopædia Britannica//. Retrieved from []