The Pulpí Geode (Spanish: Geoda de Pulpí) is a giant geode found in Spain near the town of

Pulpí Pulpí is a municipality of Almería province, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Demographics Largest salad On September 29, 2007, Pulpí tossed the world's largest salad, with 6,700 kilograms (14,740 pounds) of lettuce, tomato, ...

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Province of Almería Almería (, also , ) is a province of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It is bordered by the provinces of Granada, Murcia, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is the homonymous city of Almería. Almería has an area of . With 701, ...

) in December 1999, 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 , measuring with an average height of , and is located at a depth of in the Pilar de Jaravía mine, in the Sierra del Aguilón, in the municipality of Pulpí, from the coast. 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 Selenite may refer to: Substances containing selenium *A selenium-containing anion or ionic compound with the SeO32− anion: **Selenite (ion), anion is a selenium oxoanion with the chemical formula SeO32− ***Selenous acid, the conjugate acid, w ...

(gypsum) crystals lining the interior, which reach up to in length, with being the average. The abandoned silver-lead mine is now a

geoheritage Geoheritage is the geological aspect of natural and cultural heritage. A geosite is a particular geoheritage asset. The word is a blend of ''geological'' and ''heritage''. It is thus a heritage category comparable to other forms of natural he ...

site attracting geotourists. The geode was damaged by vandals at the end of 2021, but the damage was not as severe as first thought. 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 A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, 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).

References

External links

The Pulpí gigantic geode (Almería, Spain): geology, metal pollution, microclimatology, and conservation

Pilar de Jaravía; La geoda gigante de la Mina Rica (in Spanish)
*La Geoda de Pulpí website: https://www.geodapulpi.es/ Rocks Geology of Spain {{Andalusia-geo-stub