Prime-Gap Ruptures: Skipped Levels in the Record Growth of Consecutive Prime Gaps

For consecutive odd primes, define the step as half their gap. A prime-gap rupture occurs when a new record step exceeds the previous maximum by more than one, skipping intermediate integer step levels. Every rupture is necessarily a record prime gap. The first occurs at 113→127: the step rises from the previous record of 4 to 7, skipping levels 5 and 6. This observational study introduces a centred prime-step tree and catalogues 68 confirmed ruptures within the published exhaustive-search boundary of 10²⁰. Complete recovery—the later first occurrence of every skipped level—is observed for 66 events; two events are right-censored. The maximum observed complete-recovery delay is eight subsequent ruptures. A further candidate beyond the boundary is listed separately. The underlying prime-gap data are established computational results. The contribution is their classification, visual representation and recovery analysis. Universal recovery remains unproved, and no predictive or causal mechanism is claimed. The “prime desert” and “prime-factor oasis” descriptions are interpretative, not claims of statistically unusual factor structure. Code, datasets, figures, provenance and automated tests are available at https://github.com/fieldharmonics/prime-gap-ruptures. AI assistance is disclosed in the manuscript and repository; responsibility remains with the author. Independent verification, corrections, extensions and negative results are welcomed.