Emily Johnson
Mushroom clouds are the result of a thermonuclear explosion, but they can also be created by any massive release of heat, such as a volcano or warehouse explosion. The iconic clouds are characterized by a rounded cap and stem and are formed when a vacuum is filled with smoke and debris, which then rises and flattens due to the weight and density of the air. The resulting cloud continues to rise and expand laterally, forming the characteristic mushroom shape. The height of a mushroom cloud depends on the heat energy of the weapon and atmospheric conditions. The bombs that created the mushroom clouds over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, during World War II, were detonated at a height of nearly 2,000 feet (610 meters) above ground.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Description | A bomb with a cloud that has a distinctive mushroom shape, similar to real-world nuclear weapons |
| Appearance | Similar to Cold-War era bombs and the "Fat Man" bomb |
| Implied origin | Magical force |
| Devastating impact | Used during the Mushroom War, it played a role in unleashing the Lich upon humanity |
| Distinct explosion | The cloud glows a deep green and is made up of many howling, skull-shaped faces |
| Detonated by | Farmworld Finn |
| Detonation site | Guarded by Farmworld Marceline for over 600 years |
| Mentioned in | Cartoon Network's Adventure Time |
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What You'll Learn
The Hiroshima and Nagasaki mushroom clouds
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II were the first and, so far, only instance of nuclear weapons being deployed in armed conflict. The bombs produced mushroom clouds, which are distinctive to nuclear explosions. The mushroom cloud over Hiroshima rose to over 60,000 feet in about ten minutes. About 30 seconds after the explosion, the Enola Gay circled at 30,000 feet to observe the blast, but the mushroom cloud had already risen above them. The city was engulfed in thick black smoke.
The atomic bomb cloud over Nagasaki was described in The Times of London on 13 August 1945 as a "huge mushroom of smoke and dust". An eyewitness account of the Nagasaki bombing, written by William L. Laurence, the official newspaper correspondent of the Manhattan Project, described the bomb as producing a "pillar of purple fire" from which emerged "a giant mushroom" that increased the height of the pillar to a total of 45,000 feet.
Mushroom clouds are formed by the condensation of moisture in the air due to the drop in temperature caused by a sudden rarefaction of the surrounding medium following the positive overpressure behind a shock front. This condensation occurs in an outward-moving shell surrounding the explosion. When the pressure and temperature return to normal, the cloud dissipates.
The mushroom clouds produced by the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs were similar in shape to those created by other nuclear explosions, such as the Ivy Mike nuclear test in 1952, the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb test in 1954, and the Operation Crossroads nuclear bomb tests in 1946. These clouds are often accompanied by short-lived vapour clouds, known as "Wilson clouds", condensation clouds, or vapour rings.
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The Manhattan Project
The first atomic bomb test occurred near Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945. The bombs were later dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, resulting in the iconic mushroom clouds that are associated with nuclear explosions. The Manhattan Project also conducted weapons testing at Bikini Atoll as part of Operation Crossroads and developed new weapons, supported medical research, and laid the foundations for the nuclear navy.
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How mushroom clouds form
Mushroom clouds are the result of a massive release of heat, such as from a thermonuclear explosion, a volcano, or a conventional explosion. They can be formed by any explosion of sufficient heat and magnitude and are not unique to nuclear weapons. For example, the 2020 Beirut explosion produced a mushroom cloud.
When a bomb detonates, energy is released in all directions, initially forming a spherical fireball. As hot air rises, the large bulk of the sphere in the middle experiences more buoyancy than the edges. This creates a Rayleigh-Taylor instability, with the buoyant mass of gas rising rapidly, resulting in turbulent vortices curling downward around its edges. This forms a temporary vortex ring that draws up a central column of smoke, debris, condensed water vapour, or a combination of these—the "'stem' of the mushroom cloud.
The upward flow of air after the explosion hits the smoke from the blast, forming the "cap" of the mushroom cloud. The cloud continues to rise and flatten, forming the rounded cap. The cloud eventually reaches an altitude where it is no longer of lower density than the surrounding air and begins to disperse, resulting in fallout. The stabilization altitude depends on temperature, dew point, and wind shear profiles.
The shape and characteristics of the mushroom cloud can vary depending on the explosive yield, the height of detonation, and local atmospheric conditions. If the explosion occurs deep underground or underwater, a mushroom cloud does not form as a huge amount of earth or water is vaporized, creating a bubble that collapses in on itself, forming a subsidence crater. Underground detonations at low depths or near the surface can produce mushroom clouds.
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The Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb test
On 1 March 1954, the United States government detonated a thermonuclear weapon, code-named "Shrimp," on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The test, known as Castle Bravo, produced a 15-megaton yield, making it the largest nuclear test in US history and 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.
Castle Bravo was the United States' first test of a practical deliverable fusion bomb. The device had a basic configuration (radiation implosion) similar to the Ivy Mike device tested in 1952, but with a different type of fusion fuel. While Ivy Mike used cryogenic liquid deuterium, which required elaborate cooling equipment, Castle Bravo used lithium deuteride (LiD), which is solid at room temperature. This allowed for a significant reduction in the bomb's weight, making it more versatile and deliverable.
The designers of Castle Bravo miscalculated the yield of the device, resulting in critical radiation contamination. They predicted a yield of roughly five to six megatons, but the use of lithium deuteride with a 40% content of lithium-6 isotope contributed greatly to the overall detonation. The blast vaporized 10 million tons of coral, sand, and water, leaving a crater with a diameter of 6,510 feet and a depth of 250 feet.
The test resulted in heavy nuclear fallout, affecting the Marshall Island Atolls and the crew of a nearby Japanese fishing vessel, the "Lucky Dragon No. 5." The fallout caused acute radiation syndrome among the crew, including the death of Kuboyama Aikichi, the boat's chief radioman. The Castle Bravo test incited international reaction and criticism regarding atmospheric thermonuclear testing, leading to calls for a “standstill agreement" on nuclear tests.
The Castle Bravo test was part of Operation Castle, a series of nuclear tests conducted by the United States in the Marshall Islands. It highlighted the dangers and uncertainties associated with nuclear weapons and contributed to the push for regulations and treaties to ban or limit nuclear testing, such as the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty, which mandated that all tests be conducted underground.
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The Tsar Bomba
The development of the Tsar Bomba was a response to the US nuclear weapons arsenal, which greatly exceeded that of the USSR in terms of quantity, explosive yield, and delivery capabilities. The US had also begun deploying nuclear-capable bombers and weapons to airbases within striking distance of the Soviet Union. The USSR needed to maintain the concept of nuclear deterrence and demonstrate the strength of its nuclear weapons program, both domestically and internationally.
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Frequently asked questions
A mushroom bomb is a bomb that creates a distinctive mushroom-shaped cloud.
The mushroom bomb cloud is made of vapour, also known as a "Wilson cloud", condensation cloud, or vapour ring.
The mushroom bomb has the appearance of a nuclear bomb, similar to Cold War-era bombs and the "Fat Man" bomb, detonated during World War II.
In the animated series Adventure Time, the Mushroom Bomb is implied to have been created by a magical force and was detonated by Farmworld Finn.
The term "mushroom bomb" may have originated from John Aristotle Phillips, a Princeton student who became obsessed with the idea that a terrorist group or non-nuclear country could easily build and explode a nuclear bomb.
