Editing Vesicular texture (section)

{{Short description|Texture of small enclosed cavities found in some volcanic rocks}}
[[File:Piedra porosa, Parque nacional del Teide, Tenerife, España, 2015.JPG|thumb|Vesicular texture in volcanic rock from [[Tenerife]]]]
[[Image:Olivine basalt2.jpg|thumb|Vesicular [[olivine]] basalt from [[La Palma]]]]

'''Vesicular texture''' is a [[volcanic]] [[Rock (geology)|rock]] texture characterized by a rock being pitted with many cavities (known as vesicles) at its surface and inside.
<ref>See [https://www.elmhurst.edu/~richs/EC/102/Lectures/Igneous.ppt "Elmhurst College Powerpoint via google viewer"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030084627/https://www.elmhurst.edu/~richs/EC/102/Lectures/Igneous.ppt |date=October 30, 2012 }}, retrieved May 8, 2011</ref> 
This texture is common in [[aphanite|aphanitic]], or glassy, [[igneous rock]]s that have come to the surface of the Earth, a process known as [[Extrusive rock|extrusion]]. As [[magma]] rises to the surface the pressure on it decreases. When this happens gasses dissolved in the magma are able to come out of solution, forming gas bubbles (the cavities) inside it. When the magma finally reaches the surface as lava and cools, the rock solidifies around the gas bubbles and traps them inside, preserving them as holes filled with gas called vesicles.
<ref>D. Armstrong, F. Mugglestone, R. Richards and F. Stratton "OCR AS and A2 Geology". Pearson Education Limited, 2008, p. 76.</ref>

A related texture is [[Amygdule|amygdaloidal]] in which the volcanic rock, usually [[basalt]] or [[andesite]], has cavities, or vesicles, that are filled with secondary minerals, such as [[zeolite]]s, [[calcite]], [[quartz]], or [[chalcedony]].<ref>[https://sites.pitt.edu/~cejones/GeoImages/2IgneousRocks/IgneousTextures/7VesicularAmygdaloidal.html Vesicules and Amygdule], pitt.edu, accessed 14 Sept 2021.</ref> Individual cavity fillings are termed [[amygdules]] (American usage) or amygdales (British usage). Sometimes these can be sources of semi-precious or precious stones such as diamonds.

Rock types that display a vesicular texture include [[pumice]] and [[scoria]].