The interface between solid surfaces and cavities filled with gaseous 131Xe can be probed by multiple-quantum filtered NMR. Physisorbed 131Xe is usually not directly observable by NMR spectroscopy, but information can be transferred into the gas phase through desorption. The exchange process may lead to higher-rank order of the nuclear spins in gaseous Xe which can be detected by multiple-quantum filtered NMR. [on SciFinder (R)]