Natural Crystal Formations

10 December 2019

Dead Sea, Jordan Valley

High salinity levels combined with no outlets for water leave the dead sea with transient salt formations, their shapes depending on the kinds of minerals in the water and environmental factors.

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• Delicate, slow accumulation, transient

Naica Caves, Chihuahua, Mexico

Enormous crystals of the mineral gypsum (hydrated calcium sulfate), precipitated from hydrothermal fluids over a period of thousands of years.

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• Needle like shapes – undisturbed for centuries, pressure, heat

Giant Fossilized Gypsum Geode – Pulpi, Spain

• Pure, clear, see through shards of selenite (gypsum)
• Age not ascertained

To read:

• https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/doi/10.1130/G46734.1/574380/The-origin-of-large-gypsum-crystals-in-the-Geode
• Ostwald Ripening process –
• Crystal shapes, minerals and environmental factors