Latest / PlanetGeo: The Geology Podcast
Big Valuable Crystals: Pegmatites (GeoShort)
What type of rock has really big minerals and lots of uncommon elements? It's a pegmatite! Pegmatites contain lots of important elements and minerals, both for our economy and for mineral collectors.
Join us for a tour of pegmatites. We give quick low-down on how pegmatites form. They contain really large mineral grains, which usually implies that they cooled slowly. But, pegmatites form from the leftover fluids from magma chambers and contain all the uncommon (or unpopular!) elements that get concentrated. Once they reach a certain concentration they form rare minerals that are concentrated…
The skinny
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