Some have vanished from the face of the earth, others are dying slowly, but all have undergone changes as they have come into contact with an expanding machine civilization.

An air burst is an explosion in which a weapon is detonated in air at an altitude below 30 km but at sufficient height that the fireball does not contact the surface of the earth.

Volcanic explosion craters such as Dallol form during phreatic eruptions—where rising magma comes into contact with water beneath the surface of the Earth, causing a steam explosion.