Catalog Number:
40367
Specimen Count:
1
Locality:
African Region
Collecting Locality:
Africa, Zimbabwe
Cabinet:
08
Drawer/Shelf:
06

Pegmatites are extremely coarse-grained intrusive igneous rocks, containing crystals that are both large (at least 5 cm or 2 inches across) and packed closely together. Pegmatites crystallize during the final stages of granite formation. The same silicate minerals that form granite - quartz, feldspar, and mica - generally make up the bulk of pegmatites, too, but the individual minerals in pegmatites can be many centimeters or even several meters in diameter. Some pegmatites also contain less common minerals, such as garnet, albite, lepidolite, beryl, and fluorite. Geologists and miners sometimes find beautiful, gemstone-quality crystals of topaz, beryl (aquamarine), rose quartz, smoky quartz, and other minerals within pegmatites.