Spectacular celestine geodes occur in a Jurassic peri-evaporitic sequence (Ardon Formation) exposed in Makhtesh Ramon, southern Israel. The geodes are found only in one specific location: adjacent to an intrusive contact with a Lower Cretaceous basaltic dyke. Celestine, well known in sedimentary associations worldwide and considered as a low temperature mineral, may therefore be associated with magmatic-induced hydrothermal activity. Abundant fluid inclusions in celestine provide valuable information on its origin: gas-rich inclusions in celestine interiors homogenized at T≥200°C whereas smaller liquid-rich inclusions record the growth of celestine rims at T≤200°C. Near 0°C melting temperatures of some fluid inclusions and the occurrence of hydrous Ca-sulphate solid crystals in other inclusions indicate that celestine precipitated from variably concentrated Ca-sulphate aqueous solutions of meteoric origin. Celestine crystallized from meteoric water heated by the cooling basaltic dyke at shallow levels (c. 160 m) during a Lower Cretaceous thermal perturbation recorded by regional uplift and magmatism. The 87Sr/86Sr ratio of geode celestine, 0.7074, is similar to that measured in the dolostones of the host Jurassic sequence, but differs markedly from the non-radiogenic ratio of the dyke. Strontium in celestine was derived from dolostones preserving the 87Sr/86Sr of Lower Jurassic seawater, while sulphur (δ34S = 19.9‰) was provided by in situ dissolution of precursor marine gypsum (δ34S = 16.8‰) indicated by relict anhydrite inclusions in celestine. Low-temperature meteoric fluid flow during the Campanian caused alteration of the dyke into secondary clays and alteration of geodal celestine into quartz, calcite and iron oxides.

The amethyst geodes observed in the tholeiitic basaltic flow from the Triz quarry at Ametista do Sul (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) show particular wall-layering infillings with, from the outside inwards, celadonite, chalcedony, fine-grained quartz and large-sized amethyst crystals. The primary fluid inclusions analysed in the amethyst crystals yield a 152 to 238 °C crystallization temperature range. The amethyst geodes are always located in the massive, fracture-free, basaltic part of the lava flows and surrounded by a limited wall-lining alteration halo, the thickness of which depends on the geode radius. The geochemical balances calculated from fresh to altered basalt in the geode environment indicate that the amount of SiO2 released from the alteration halo is always sufficient to produce the siliceous rims in the geodes without requirement for extraneous silica supply. The results point to a volcanic origin for the amethyst geode infillings through basalt ‘autoalteration’ by authigenic high temperature hydrothermal fluids. These fluids can originate from (1) unmixing of volatile coumpounds from melt through pressure release, (2) cooling to supercritical hydrous fluids with ‘autoalteration’ of the surrounding basalt and (3) migration of the residual hot fluids from the basalt to the geodic cavities through the pressure gradient between the geodic cavity and the rock.

Size distribution data obtained from detailed field study of bubbles and amethyst-geodes in the basaltic lava flows of the Serra Geral Formation (Ametista do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) are used in cooling and vesiculation models to infer the origin and the formation processes of the geodic cavities. Coupled field observations and modelling results emphasize that (1) the formation of geodes in the studied lava flow can be explained, qualitatively and quantitatively, by the exsolution of magmatic gas from the supersaturated melt with no need for external surface water supply; (2) the vertically elongated habits of the geodes result from higher cooling rate of the magma in contact with the accumulating bubbles; and (3) the abnormal metre-sized geodes with their branching habits result not only from the diffusive/decompressive bubble growth but also from the coalescence of inwards-progressing tubular cavities.