The voltage and power generated by zinc in ground would be too low to make a good arc. You probably have a poor earth connection in your house wiring and the stray current through the ground is causing that spark.
Put a voltmeter across the gap. You'll probably find that the current is AC while a zinc cell would give DC.Can galvanized sheet metal partially buried generate electricity?
Sun spots can cause DC electric currents to flow through the ground in one direction and your galvanized skirting could 'complete' a circuit. Therefore there may be more than one cause for what you observe. A battery cell may consist of two different metal strips suspended within an acid, however, two similar strips suspended within acids of different concentrations at each strip might cause a current. If your metal skirt becomes part of the ground path for your house electrical system it might transmit electricity. Try to measure the DC voltage across the arcing gap which may eliminate certain possible causes and point to the skirt acting as a weak battery cell. Any current from sun spots would vary and perhaps disappear with time.
The voltage that you get this way will be very small, not sufficient to cause an arcing. Further, the zinc plating on the galvanized metal is thin, in order of microns, so it can not even generate high currents. There is no inductance present in this circuit.
To sum up, there is nothing which can cause arcing as a result of galvanization, in reference to the case you are telling.
There may be stray voltages like - induction from an over head transmission line, poor grounding of household wiring, long pipe line touching the metal sheet the pipe lines not grounded properly - You may be standing on a perfectly insulated pair of shoes and it is the spark of static electricity discharge from your body to the fence. Except the last case, all other are most likely ac sources.
I would suggest you to investigate this as this voltage may cause unpleasent shock to an accident.
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