It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
When a circuit passes through a solid body, the current will erode material from or deposit material on the surface where the arc touches down. It is essential therefore that planetary scientists be willing to consider the evidence of electrical surface erosion, which leaves distinctive scarring patterns
If the surface is a cathode (negatively charged), the arc will tend to move across the surface. After striking, usually at a high point, and eroding a crater, the arc may jump to a new high point—the rim of the new crater is a most likely target. The abundance of small craters centered on the rims of larger ones testifies to this predictable behavior.