Gem Bearing Cavities in Pegmatites

Cavities in rock.
Photo by Ustill

Just about any kind of rock can have cavities some pegmatites are particularly prone to this feature, and it is in these cavities that most gemstones are found. There are many causes of these cavities, but one of the most common is a gas bubble. In many pegmatites cavities can also be formed by a lack of sufficient magma to completely fill the space the pegmatite is occupying.

Cavities are found in pegmatites generally come from one source that is the lack of sufficient material to fill the pegmatites solid. Some of these cavities are quite small and are measured in millimeters. Larger ones are measured in centimeters, and still larger ones are measured in meters. The latter are the most uncommon form of cavity. When they are found in the process of gem mining they often become legendary containing several million dollars worth of gemstones.

Rubbilite tourmaline crystals found in a gem bearing cavity in pegmatite.
Photo by Rob Lavinsky

A cavity that has not been affected by Earth movements grows a fine crop of gem crystals that are attached to the matrix. These crystals are often covered with a fine layer of clay that forms from the last of the mineral bearing solution in the cavity. One might say from the leftovers. Less than one in ten of all the cavities that are found are of this variety. Originally these pegmatites were under considerable pressure as they were formed several miles beneath the surface of the earth. As they were brought up to the surface of the earth by the process of erosion they lost this initial pressurization through the process of a diffusion of their internal gases through the pores in the rock.

Beryl, Cassiterite and Muscovite from a pegmatite cavity.
Photo by Rob Lavinsky

It's the same cavity is fractured by Earth movements so that it loses its internal pressurization crystals that it contains are shattered, and the fragments fall to the bottom of the cavity. Another feature of this type of cavity that is now open for the atmosphere allowing it to be filled with clay that accumulates in the cavity from sources found on the surface of the earth.

Finally, some cavities that remains sealed from the atmosphere are visited by a later type of mineral bearing water that causes the gem crystals inside him to be etched away partially or wholly.

These cavities are known by many names including cavity, geode, pocket and vug.