A vug, vugh, or vugg ( ) is a small- to medium-sized cavity inside rock. It may be formed through a variety of processes. Most commonly, cracks and

fissure A fissure is a long, narrow crack opening along the surface of Earth. The term is derived from the Latin word , which means 'cleft' or 'crack'. Fissures emerge in Earth's crust, on ice sheets and glaciers, and on volcanoes. Ground fissure A ...

s opened by

tectonic Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents ...

activity (

folding Fold, folding or foldable may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Fold'' (album), the debut release by Australian rock band Epicure *Fold (poker), in the game of poker, to discard one's hand and forfeit interest in the current pot *Above ...

and faulting) are partially filled by

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical fo ...

calcite Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scrat ...

, and other secondary

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ...

s. Open spaces within ancient collapse

breccia Breccia () is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or Rock (geology), rocks cementation (geology), cemented together by a fine-grained matrix (geology), matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language, in whi ...

s are another important source of vugs. Vugs may also form when mineral

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macr ...

s or

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s inside a rock matrix are later removed through

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is di ...

or dissolution processes, leaving behind irregular voids. The inner surfaces of such vugs are often coated with a crystal druse. Fine crystals are often found in vugs where the open space allows the free development of external crystal form. The term ''vug'' is not applied to veins and fissures that have become completely filled, but may be applied to any small cavities within such veins.

Geode A geode (; ) is a geological secondary formation within sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Geodes are hollow, vaguely spherical rocks, in which masses of mineral matter (which may include crystals) are secluded. The crystals are formed by the fill ...

s are a common vug-formed rock, although that term is usually reserved for more rounded crystal-lined cavities in

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

s and ancient

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock ( magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or ...

s.Geology Buzz: Vug
/ref> The word ''vug'' was introduced to the English language by Cornish

miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

, from the days when

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

was a major supplier of

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

.''The history of Cornwall, civil, military, religious, ...'' (Page 56), Richard Polwhele - 1816 The Cornish word was , which meant "cave".

Images

File:Conichalcite-Calcite-65643.jpg, A vug in a

limonite Limonite () is an iron ore consisting of a mixture of hydrated iron(III) oxide-hydroxides in varying composition. The generic formula is frequently written as FeO(OH)·H2O, although this is not entirely accurate as the ratio of oxide to hydroxi ...

matrix is the host for a layer of green botryoids of conichalcite and colorless, translucent rhombs of calcite File:Azurite-Malachite-163967.jpg, Vug with rosettes of deep blue

azurite Azurite is a soft, deep-blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. During the early 19th century, it was also known as chessylite, after the type locality at Chessy-les-Mines near Lyon, France. The mineral, a basic carb ...

on a field of malachite File:Goosecreekite-Heulandite-Ca-Quartz-indi-41a.jpg,

Goosecreekite Zeolites are microporous, crystalline aluminosilicate materials commonly used as commercial adsorbents and catalysts. They mainly consist of silicon, aluminium, oxygen, and have the general formula ･y where is either a metal ion or H+. These p ...

with

heulandite Heulandite is the name of a series of tecto-silicate minerals of the zeolite group. Prior to 1997, heulandite was recognized as a mineral species, but a reclassification in 1997 by the International Mineralogical Association changed it to a se ...

-Ca on quartz File:Rosasite-rosa08a.jpg, Intergrown botryoids of blue-green rosasite inside the curve of a limonite vug File:Epistilbite-indi-15a.jpg, Example of open space in a vug allowing the formation of crystallized minerals File:Pyromorphite-t07-109a.jpg, Apple green

pyromorphite Pyromorphite is a mineral species composed of lead chlorophosphate: Pb5( P O4)3 Cl, sometimes occurring in sufficient abundance to be mined as an ore of lead. Crystals are common, and have the form of a hexagonal prism terminated by the basal p ...

cluster on limonite matrix File:Wulfenite-181388.jpg, Vug in a limonitic matrix is the host for bi-pyramidal, brownish-red crystals of

wulfenite Wulfenite is a lead molybdate mineral with the formula Pb Mo O4. It can be most often found as thin tabular crystals with a bright orange-red to yellow-orange color, sometimes brown, although the color can be highly variable. In its yellow form ...

File:Groutite-tuc1048a.jpg, Crystallized

groutite Groutite is a manganese oxide mineral with formula Mn3+O(OH). It is a member of the diaspore group and is trimorphous with manganite and feitknechtite. It forms lustrous black crystals in the orthorhombic system. It occurs in weathered banded ...

scattered about a hollow vug File:Aurichalcite-Calcite-aur06a.jpg, In a vug of limonite are intergrown clusters of rhombohedral calcite with inclusions of fibrous aurichalcite File:Epistilbite-Fluorapophyllite-Stellerite-indi-20a.jpg, Stellerite, epistilbite, and eluorapophyllite in a basaltic vug File:Sulfur-tmix07-162b.jpg, Nestled in its matrix vug are five golden-yellow crystals of

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formul ...

File:Quartz-Chrysocolla-193915.jpg, In an open pocket in a matrix of limonite there is a cluster of deep robin's-egg blue

chrysocolla Chrysocolla ( ) is a hydrated copper phyllosilicate mineral and mineraloid with formula (x<1) or . The structure of the mineral has been questioned, as a 2006 spectrographic study suggest material identified a ...

with a covering of drusy quartz

References

External links

*{{wiktionary-inline Petrology Geology terminology Cornish words and phrases

Images

See also

References

External links