Pulpí Geode

The Pulpí Geode (Spanish: Geoda de Pulpí) is a giant geode found in Spain near the town of Pulpí (Province of Almería) in December 1999,[1][2] by Javier Garcia-Guinea of the Grupo Mineralogista de Madrid. This geode is one of the largest documented geodes in the world to date. It occupies a space of 10.7 cubic metres (380 cu ft), measuring 8 by 1.8 metres (26.2 by 5.9 ft) with an average height of 1.7 metres (5 ft 7 in), and is located at a depth of 50 metres (160 ft) in the Pilar de Jaravía mine, in the Sierra del Aguilón, in the municipality of Pulpí, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the coast.

Cavers inside the geode

The geode has a funnel shape, with the narrowest part being L-shaped. It is notable on a worldwide scale for both its size and the transparency and perfection of the selenite (gypsum) crystals lining the interior, which reach up to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) in length, with 50 centimetres (20 in) being the average. The abandoned silver-lead mine is now a geoheritage site attracting geotourists. The geode was damaged by vandals at the end of 2021,[3] but the damage was not as severe as first thought.[4]

Schematic

The latest scientific research, on the origin of the geode, was published on 23 March 2022; the research was led by Fernando Gázquez of the University of Almeria, with the conclusion that the gypsum crystals were formed between 164 ± 15 thousand and 60 thousand years ago, in the upper Pleistocene, from a freshwater aquifer (with very little evidence of brackish or sea water, as suggested previously).[5]