Amethyst Crystals Exposed After Millions of Years of Darkness

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Have you ever had the opportunity to crack open a geode? I was just a kid the first time I ever saw a geode cracked open and I couldn’t help but think that all of those beautiful purple crystals have been hidden from daylight for millions of years…until that very moment.

That’s exactly what happened in this video, and it reminded me of that first time opening up a geode when I was a kid. The owners of the geode use a large pipe cutter to carefully break the amethyst geode, and the amethyst crystals that are exposed are incredible.

The geode is from the Las Choyas mine in Mexico.

How Long Does It Take Geodes To Form?

Geodes are a product of chance and time. On top of the perfect conditions that must exist (a void that contains the right mineral deposits and environmental conditions), a geode must be given ample time to form. What is ample time you ask? Try upwards of millions of years.

In order for enough mineral deposits to accumulate into visually appealing crystals, it requires a slow seep of water that carries minerals into the void. Not a fast process by any means. This may be part of the thrill of geodes. Cracking one open to be the first thing to see these crystals that may have been hidden in the dark for maybe millions of years.

Related: How To Find Geodes! The Ultimate Guide

How Geodes Form

According to Sciencing.com, Geodes can occur within either volcanic or sedimentary rocks. Beginning as hollow bubbles inside other rocks, geodes form over many years. Basically, geodes are sedimentary rocks, the crystals within the bubbles forming as a result of a chemical reaction that leads to precipitation of minerals that become those crystals.

The outer shell of a geode is made of a very hard rock, and crystals form inside geodes only when the perfect combination of temperature, pressure changes and evaporation exists. As water seeps into the rocks around a geode, minerals are deposited inside the hollow rock. Typically, these minerals become agate and quartz, which form in layers very slowly, over the course of thousands of years.

Read More on How Geodes Are Formed

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