On the initial stages of skeletal crystal growth

The transition from isometric into skeletal form of a crystal growing under diffusion control is explained as a result of the transition from a global compensation of the super-saturation nonhomogeneity, i.e. in the framework of the whole crystal face, to a spatially limited one. The said compensation is now possible only in the region of the macroscopically flat margin surrounding the gross morphological defect (in the form of a depression) which is the immediate result of the uneven, and unsufficient matter supply.