Editing Mushroom cloud (section)

=== Differences with detonation types ===
With surface and near-surface air bursts, the amount of debris lofted into the air decreases rapidly with increasing burst altitude. At a burst altitude of approximately 7{{nbsp}}meters/kiloton<sup>{{frac|1|3}}</sup>, a [[Explosion crater|crater]] is not formed, and correspondingly lower amounts of dust and debris are produced. The fallout-reducing height, above which the primary radioactive particles consist mainly of the fine fireball condensation, is approximately 55{{nbsp}}meters/kiloton{{sup|0.4}}.<ref name="gd" /> However, even at these burst altitudes, fallout may be formed by other mechanisms. Airbursts produce white, steamy stems, while surface bursts produce gray to brown stems because large amounts of dust, dirt, soil, and debris are sucked into the mushroom cloud. Surface bursts produce dark mushroom clouds containing irradiated material from the ground in addition to the bomb and its casing and therefore produce more radioactive fallout, with larger particles that readily deposit locally.

A detonation high above the ground may produce a mushroom cloud without a stem. A double mushroom, with two levels, can be formed under certain conditions. For example, the [[Operation Buster-Jangle|Buster-Jangle Sugar]] shot formed the first head from the blast, followed by another one generated by the heat from the hot, freshly formed crater.<ref name="undercloud">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=adI-6jRDipgC&pg=PA32|title=Under the Cloud: The Decades of Nuclear Testing|author=Richard Lee Miller|page=32|publisher=Two-Sixty Press|year=1986|isbn=978-0-02-921620-0}}</ref> 

A detonation significantly below ground level or deep below the water (for instance, a nuclear depth charge) does not produce a mushroom cloud, as the explosion causes the vaporization of a huge amount of earth or water, creating a bubble which then collapses in on itself; in the case of a less deep underground explosion, this produces a [[subsidence crater]]. An underwater detonation near the surface may produce a pillar of water which collapses to form a cauliflower-like shape, which is easily mistaken for a mushroom cloud (such as in the well-known pictures of the ''[[Operation Crossroads#Test Baker|Crossroads Baker]]'' test). An underground detonation at low depth produces a mushroom cloud and a [[base surge]], two different distinct clouds. The amount of radiation vented into the atmosphere decreases rapidly with increasing detonation depth.