slate

en-noun

slate (countable and uncountable, plural slates)

From Middle English slate, slat, slatte, sclate, sclatte, from Old French esclate, from esclat (French éclat), from Frankish *slaitan (“to split, break”), from Proto-Germanic *slaitijaną, causative of *slītaną (“to cut up, split”). Doublet of éclat.

Some of the minor Welsh 2 ft. gauge railways, we hear from Mr. N. F. G. Dalston, are enjoying a miniature boom owing to the demand for slate for the repair of damaged roofs.

1941 March, “Notes and News: The Demand for Slate”, in Railway Magazine, page 141:

The Penrhyn slate quarry possibly dates back to the sixteenth century, as it appears that in 1580 Sion Tudor asked the Bishop of Bangor for a shipload of slate.

1945 May and June, Charles E. Lee, “The Penrhyn Railway and its Locomotives—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 138:

(uncountable, geology) A fine-grained homogeneous sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash which has been metamorphosed so that it cleaves easily into thin layers.


millstone

Dalgarven Mill – Museum of Ayrshire Country Life and Costume

From Middle English mylneston, milneston, from Old English mylenstān (“millstone”), from Proto-West Germanic *mulīnu + *stain; equivalent to mill + stone; cognate with Danish møllesten, Middle Dutch molensteen (modern Dutch molensteen), West Frisian molestien, Norwegian Bokmål møllestein, Old Saxon mulinstēn (Middle Low German mȫlenstēn), Old High German mulinstein, mülstein (Middle High German mülstein, modern German Mühlstein).

In North America the millstone grit, and a grey sandy and slaty rock beneath it, occur three times; and it is exceedingly difficult to distinguish these rocks in hand specimens, without the aid of organized remains. And remains are almost exclusively confined to the grey rocks. Common quarrymen, farmers, and foreign geologists, apply the names, greywracke and millstone, to all these rocks promiscuously; neither having observed their different relative positions.

1832, Amos Eaton, Geological Text-book, for Aiding the Study of North American Geology: Being a Systematic Arrangement of Facts, Collected by the Author and His Pupils, under the Patronage of the Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer, 2nd edition, Albany, N.Y.: Published by Websters and Skinners, New York, N.Y.: G. and C. and H. Carvill, Troy, N.Y.: William S. Parker, N. Tuttle, printer, →OCLC, pages 92–93:

From the above account it will be seen how closely the Millstone Grit and the Lower Coal Measures are like one another in their lithological character. Each is a group of thick sandstones parted by shales, and in each beds of coal are very generally found on the top of the sandstones. The differences are these. Among the Millstones the sandstones are thicker, fewer, further apart, more constant both in size and character, and as a rule coarse grits or conglomerates.

1869, A. H. Green, C[lement] le Neve Foster, J. R. Dakyns, “Lower Coal-measures or Ganister-beds”, in The Geology of the Carboniferous Limestone, Yoredale Rocks, and Millstone Grit of North Derbyshire and the Adjoining Parts of Yorkshire. (Sheets 81 N.E., 81 S.E., 72 N.E., and Adjoining Parts of 88 S.E., 82 N.W., 82 S.W., and 71 N.W. of the Map of the Geological Survey.) (Memoirs of the Geological Survey of England and Wales), London: Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office; published by Longmans, Green and Co., →OCLC, page 11:

(geology) A coarse-grained sandstone used for making such stones; millstone grit.


chalk

chalk (countable and uncountable, plural chalks)

→ Hindi: चाक (cāk)

→ Japanese: チャコ (chako), チョーク (chōku)

→ Nepali: चक (cak)

→ Swahili: chaki

→ Swazi: íshóki

→ Thai: ชอล์ก (chɔ́k)

→ Tsonga: choko

→ Tulu: ಚಾಕ್ (cākŭ)

→ Yoruba: ṣọ́ọ̀kì

From Middle English chalk, chalke, from Old English ċealc, from Proto-West Germanic *kalk, borrowed from Latin calx (“limestone”), again borrowed from Ancient Greek χάλιξ (khálix, “pebble”). Doublet of calx and cauk.


coal

coal (countable and uncountable, plural coals)

→ Hausa: kwal

From Middle English cole, from Old English col, from Proto-West Germanic *kol, from Proto-Germanic *kulą (compare West Frisian koal, Dutch kool, German Kohle, Danish kul), from *ǵwelH- (“to burn, shine”). Compare Old Irish gúal (“coal”), Lithuanian žvìlti (“to twinkle, glow”), Persian زغال (zoğâl, “live coal”), Sanskrit ज्वल् (jval, “to burn, glow”), Tocharian B śoliye (“hearth”), all from the same root.

See also: stockpile

Put some coal on the fire.

Order some coal from the coalyard.

en:mineral coal, uncountable, in general

en:mineral coal, uncountable, as a commodity

(uncountable) A black or brownish black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.

(countable) A type of coal, such as bituminous, anthracite, or lignite, and grades and varieties thereof, as a fuel commodity ready to buy and burn.


coal

en-verb

coal (third-person singular simple present coals, present participle coaling, simple past and past participle coaled)

coals (present singular third-person)
coaling (participle present)
coaled (participle past)
coaled (past)

Char-coal of roots, coaled into great pieces.

(transitive) To burn to charcoal; to char.


jet

Borrowed from French jet (“spurt”, literally “a throw”), from Old French get, giet, from Vulgar Latin *iectus, jectus, from Latin iactus (“a throwing, a throw”), from iacere (“to throw”). See abject, ejaculate, gist, jess, jut. Cognate with Spanish echar.

bor

An engine that propels a vehicle using a stream of fluid as propulsion.


jet

en-adj

jet (comparative jetter or more jet, superlative jettest or most jet)

jetter (comparative)
more jet (comparative)
jettest (superlative)
most jet (superlative)

From Middle English get, geet, gete, from a northern form of Old French jayet, jaiet, gaiet, from Latin gagātēs, from Ancient Greek Γαγάτης (Gagátēs), from Γάγας (Gágas, “a town and river in Lycia”). Doublet of gagate.

All the direct blacks require working in strong baths to give anything like black shades; they all have, more or less, a bluish tone, which can be changed to a jetter shade by the addition of a yellow or green dye in small proportions, which has been done in one of the recipes given above.

1901, Franklin Beech, The Dyeing of Cotton Fabrics: A Practical Handbook for the Dyer and Student:

She was an ash blonde with greenish eyes, beaded lashes, hair waved smoothly back from ears in which large jet buttons glittered.

1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 23:


pumice

en-noun

pumice (countable and uncountable, plural pumices)

From Anglo-Norman and Old French pomis (“pumice stone”), from Latin pūmex (“pumice stone”). Doublet of pounce.

The wind blew close to the ground - it rooted among the tussock grass - slithered along the road, so that the white pumice dust swirled in our faces - settled and sifted over us and was like a dry-skin itching for growth on our bodies.

1912, Katherine Mansfield, The Woman at the Store, Oxford World's Classics 2002, page 10:

A light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock, formed during explosive volcanic eruptions when liquid lava is ejected into water or air as a froth containing masses of gas bubbles, which are frozen into the rock as the lava solidifies.


crag

crag (countable and uncountable, plural crags)

From 13th century Middle English crag, from Middle Irish crec, a contracted form of Old Irish carrac (compare Irish creig, Scottish Gaelic creag), possibly ultimately from the late Proto-Indo-European/substrate *kar (“stone, hard”); see also Old Armenian քար (kʻar, “stone”), Sanskrit खर (khara, “hard, solid”), Welsh carreg (“stone”).

(uncountable) A game played with three dice, similar to Yahtzee.


jade

jade (usually uncountable, plural jades)

Borrowed from French le jade, rebracketing of earlier l’éjade (“jade”), from Spanish piedra de ijada (“flank stone”), via Vulgar Latin *iliata from Latin ilia (“flank”). (Jade was thought to cure pains in the side.)

Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are diamond, ruby and sapphire, emerald and other gem forms of the mineral beryl, chrysoberyl, tanzanite, tsavorite, topaz and jade.

2012 March 20, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 2012-06-14, page 128:

A semiprecious stone, either nephrite or jadeite, generally green or white in color, often used for carving figurines.


gabbro

gabbro (countable and uncountable, plural gabbros)

It is known as gabbro and is thought to form the lower layer of the oceanic crust at about four kilometres depth and to comprise a layer up to six kilometres thick, making it one of the most abundant, if least recognisable, materials on earth.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 59:

Against the dark Ordovician gabbro, the black volcanic base, Rhynie is a streak of technicolour.

2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherlands, Penguin, published 2023, page 205:

(petrology) Originally, a kind of serpentine; now generally a coarsely crystalline, igneous rock consisting of lamellar pyroxene and labradorite.


schist

schist (countable and uncountable, plural schists)

From French schiste, from Latin schistos lapis (“the stone that is easy to split”), from Ancient Greek σχιστός (skhistós, “splittable”), from σχίζω (skhízō, “to split”).

der

Although it shows under the microscope traces of the original gabbro structure and of the original gabbro minerals, no one would hesitate from a microscopical examination to class it with the schists.

1890, George Huntington Williams, “The Greenstone Schist Areas of the Menominee and Marquette Regions of Michigan”, in US Geological Survey, number 62, page 74:

1915, Charles Will Wright, Geology and Ore Deposits of Copper Mountain and Kasaan Peninsula, Alaska, US Geological Survey, Professional Paper 87, page 29,
Narrow bands of schist are interstratified with these limestones, and in turn narrow beds of limestone are interstratified with the schists.

Millions of years ago the mica schists surrounding the old Brandberg West Mine became folded and concertinaed by enormous horizontal pressures.

2012, Amy Schoeman, Skeleton Coast, page ii:

Any of a variety of coarse-grained crystalline metamorphic rocks with a foliated structure that allows easy division into slabs or slates.


tuff

en-noun

tuff (countable and uncountable, plural tuffs)

From French tuffe, tuf, from Italian tufo, from Latin tōfus. Doublet of tufa.

This is what makes an ignimbrite; the general term for this kind of volcaniclastic rock is ‘tuff’.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 9n:

(petrology) A light porous rock, now especially a rock composed of compacted volcanic ash varying in size from fine sand to coarse gravel.


shale

shale (countable and uncountable, plural shales)

From Middle English schale (“shell, husk; scale”), from Old English sċealu (“shell, husk, pod”), from Proto-Germanic *skalō (compare West Frisian skaal (“dish”), Dutch schaal (“shell”), schalie (“shale”), German Schale (“husk, pod”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to split, cut”) (compare Lithuanian skalà (“splinter”), Old Church Slavonic скала (skala, “rock, stone”), Polish skała (“rock”), Albanian halë (“fish bone, splinter”), Sanskrit कल (kalá, “small part”)), from *(s)kel- (“to split, cleave”) (compare Hittite [script needed] (iškalla, “to tear apart, slit open”), Lithuanian skélti (“to split”), Ancient Greek σκάλλω (skállō, “to hoe, harrow”)). Doublet of scale. See also shell.

cog

As on all large green roofs, the soil is not dirt exactly but a gravel-like growing medium of granulated pumice, shales, clays and other minerals.

2007 March 23, Patricia Leigh Brown, “The Window Box Gets Some Tough Competition”, in New York Times:

(geology) A fine-grained sedimentary rock of a thin, laminated, and often friable, structure.


pegmatite

en-noun

pegmatite (countable and uncountable, plural pegmatites)

A coarsely crystalline igneous or plutonic rock composed primarily of feldspar and quartz, normally with muscovite and/or biotite mica.


limestone

limestone (countable and uncountable, plural limestones)

a limestone viaduct

As each blast furnace uses 200 tons of limestone daily, and each limestone kiln 150 tons, a total of 730 tons of limestone has to be carried daily, in addition to limestone chippings, which are sold.

1939 July, “What the Railways are Doing: The New Ebbw Vale Steelworks”, in Railway Magazine, page 68:

The house was a big elaborate limestone affair, evidently new. Winter sunshine sparkled on lace-hung casement, on glass marquise, and the burnished bronze foliations of grille and door.

1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

An abundant rock of marine and fresh-water sediments; primarily composed of calcite (CaCO₃); it occurs in a variety of forms, both crystalline and amorphous.


bedrock

bedrock (countable and uncountable, plural bedrocks)

From bed (“a layer on top of which something else rests.”) + rock.

compound

bed<t:a layer on top of which something else rests.>

The denudation of the land was upon a grand scale. All superficial accumulations were swept away, and the bedrock was exposed.

1880, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XL, in A Tramp Abroad; […], Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company; London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

Listen! It's big. Only eight to twenty feet to bedrock. There won't be a claim that don't run to half a million.

1912 October, Jack London, “The Stampede to Squaw Creek”, in Smoke Bellew, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co, →OCLC:

(uncountable, geology, mining, engineering, construction) The solid rock found at some depth below the ground surface.


granite

en-noun

granite (countable and uncountable, plural granites)

From French granit (“granite”), from Italian granito (“granite”), from granire (“to granulate”), from grano (“grain”), from Latin grānum (“grain”). Compare granita.

(petrology) A group of igneous and plutonic rocks composed primarily of feldspar and quartz. Usually contains one or more dark minerals, which may be mica, pyroxene, or amphibole. Granite is quarried for building stone, road gravel, decorative stone, and tombstones. Common colors are gray, white, pink, and yellow-brown.


clast

(geology) a fragment of rock that was broken from a larger rock or rock unit.


marble

marble (countable and uncountable, plural marbles)

From Middle English marble, marbre, from Anglo-Norman and Old French marbre, from Latin marmor, from Ancient Greek μάρμαρος (mármaros), perhaps related to μαρμάρεος (marmáreos, “gleaming”). Much of the early classical marble came from the 'Marmaris' sea above the Aegean. The forms from French replaced Old English marma, which had previously been borrowed from Latin.

Open thy marble jaws, O tomb / And hide me, earth, in thy dark womb.

1751, Thomas Morell (librettist), Jephtha

(uncountable, petrology) A metamorphic rock of crystalline limestone.


marble

en-adj

marble (comparative more marble, superlative most marble)

more marble (comparative)
most marble (superlative)

a marble mantel

marble paper


sandstone

en-noun

sandstone (countable and uncountable, plural sandstones)

From Middle English sandston, from Old English *sandstān, from Proto-West Germanic *sandastain (“sandstone, chisel, gravel”), equivalent to sand + stone. Cognate with West Frisian sânstien (“sandstone”), Saterland Frisian Soundsteen (“sandstone”), Dutch zandsteen (“sandstone”), German Low German Sandsteen (“sandstone”), German Sandstein (“sandstone”), Danish sandsten (“sandstone”), Swedish sandsten (“sandstone”), Icelandic sandsteinn (“sandstone”).

cog

It spread slowly up from the sea-rim, a welling upwards of pure white light, ghosting the beach with silver and drawing the grey bastions of sandstone out of formless space.

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 32:

A sedimentary rock produced by the consolidation and compaction of sand, cemented with clay etc.


chuck

en-noun

chuck (countable and uncountable, plural chucks)

1824, Royal Society of Arts (Great Britain), Transactions, Volume 42, page 88,
I have had a chuck of this kind made in brass with the cones of iron, but it is cumbrous and expensive, and does not answer so well, owing to the surface of the iron offering less resistance to the work turning within it. This, perhaps, might be remedied by roughing; but I think the chuck is much better in wood, as it can be made by any common turner at a trifling expense, and possesses more strength than can possibly be required.

Iron and steel in contact with magnets retain some of the magnetism, which is sometimes more or less of a nuisance in getting small work off the chucks.

1912, Fred Herbert Colvin, Frank Arthur Stanley, American Machinist Grinding Book, page 322:

2003, Julie K. Petersen, “chuck”, entry in Fiber Optics Illustrated Dictionary, page 181,
A fiber optic splicing device may be equipped with V-grooves or chucks to hold the two pieces of fiber optic filament to be spliced. If it has chucks, they are typically either clamping chucks or vacuum chucks.

The first step in preparing a test specimen with the FlexPrepᵀᴹ is to secure the gyratory specimen in the chuck of the machine.

2008, Ramon Francis Bonaquist, NHCRP Report 614: Refining the Simple Performance Tester for Use in Routine Practice, page 30:

mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering

(mechanical engineering) A mechanical device that holds an object firmly in place, for example holding a drill bit in a high-speed rotating drill or grinder.


chuck

(Scotland, obsolete, slang, in the plural) Money.


flint

flint (countable and uncountable, plural flints)

From Middle English flynt, flint, from Old English flint, from Proto-West Germanic *flint, from Proto-Germanic *flintaz (compare Dutch vlint, flint (“flint, cobblestone”), German Flins, Flint (“flint, pebble”), Danish flint (“flint”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)plind- (“to split, cleave”) (compare Irish slinn (“slate, shingle”), Ancient Greek πλίνθος (plínthos)), from *(s)pley- (“to split”). More at split.

der

A small cylinder of some other material of the same function in a cigarette lighter, etc.


tillite

The most straightforward example is probably provided by tillites.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 127:

(geology) Glacial till cemented into a solid rock.


lignite

en-noun

lignite (countable and uncountable, plural lignites)

From French lignite, from Latin lignum (“firewood”) + -ite.

Texas industry is turning to lignite, a kind of poor man's coal, to replace its dwindling allocations of natural gas. The Lone Star State now gets an estimated 12 percent of its electricity from lignite, and that figure is expected to double by 1985.

1978 February 14, “Texas Turning to Its Reserves of Lignite”, in New York Times:

[Robert] Habeck, who has found himself in the extremely uncomfortable position of turning from a long-term campaigner against fossil fuels to a short-term defender of them, said: “Putin’s war of aggression is forcing us to temporarily make greater use of lignite so that we save gas in electricity generation. This is painful but necessary in view of the shortage of gas.”

2023 January 10, Kate Connolly, “Climate activists ‘prepared to risk lives’ to stop German coalmine”, in The Guardian:


Old Red Sandstone

A red sedimentary rock formation in Britain.


serpentine

From Middle English serpentine, from Old French serpentin, from Latin serpentīnus, from serpēns (“serpent”), equivalent to serpent + -ine.

(mathematics) Any of several related cubic curves; anguinea

It is reached by five-and-twenty steps of porphyry and serpentine.

2020, Hilary Mantel, The Mirror and the Light, Fourth Estate, page 394:

(mineralogy) Any of several green/brown minerals consisting of magnesium and iron silicates that have similar layered crystal structure, whose appearance somewhat resembles a snake's skin.

(geology) An outcrop or region with soil and rock dominated by these minerals.


tripoli

tripoli (countable and uncountable, plural tripolis)

Originally brought from Tripoli in Libya.

(geology) A sedimentary rock composed of the shells of diatoms etc., used for polishing.


bituminous

bituminous (countable and uncountable, plural bituminouses)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-bituminous.wav


porphyry

porphyry (countable and uncountable, plural porphyries)

From Old French porfire, from Ancient Greek πορφυρίτης λίθος (porphurítēs líthos, “purple stone”), from πορφύρα (porphúra, “purple-fish, purple dye”).

der

πορφυρίτης λίθος

(geology) A hard igneous rock consisting of large crystals in a fine-grained matrix.

A quartet of porphyry warriors, locked for all time in stern embrace outside St. Mark's Basilica, were probably carved in the Fourth Century. They are believed to represent the Roman Emperor Diocletian and the three men who held power with him.

1980, Colin Thubron, Seafarers: The Venetians, page 43:


rhyolite

en-noun

rhyolite (countable and uncountable, plural rhyolites)

Coined by Ferdinand von Richthofen as German Rhyolith, from Ancient Greek ῥέω (rhéō, “flow”) + λίθος (líthos, “stone”) (modified to + -lite).

(geology) An igneous, volcanic (extrusive) rock, of felsic composition, with aphanitic to porphyritic texture.


intrusive

en-adj

intrusive (comparative more intrusive, superlative most intrusive)

more intrusive (comparative)
most intrusive (superlative)

(geology) Of rocks: forced, while in a plastic or molten state, into the cavities or between the cracks or layers of other rocks.


conglomerate

conglomerate (comparative more conglomerate, superlative most conglomerate)

more conglomerate (comparative)
most conglomerate (superlative)

Berkshire Hathaway
Kiewit Plaza
Trellech

From Latin conglomerātus, past participle of conglomerāre (“to pile into a heap, to roll together”), from con- (prefix indicating a being or bringing together of several objects) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“beside, by, near, with”)) + glomerāre (from glomerō (“to pile into a heap, to make into a ball, glomerate”), from glomus (“ball of thread; ball-shaped mass”), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to form into a ball; ball”)).

der

The Santa Margarita Formation in the southern Temblor Range, composed of conglomerate and subordinate sandstone, evolved as a large complex of fan deltas and submarine fans in late Miocene time.

1989, Robert T. Ryder, Alan Thomson, “Abstract”, in Tectonically Controlled Fan Delta and Submarine Fan Sedimentation of Late Miocene Age, Southern Temblor Range, California (U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper; 1442), Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 1:

He also documented some intercalated mottled reddish clays and marls, and the upper horizons containing bluish clays with conglomerate beds.

2015, Megh Raj Dhital, “Siwaliks of Arun–Tamar Region”, in Geology of the Nepal Himalaya: Regional Perspective of the Classic Collided Orogen (Regional Geology Reviews), Cham, Switzerland, Heidelberg: Springer International Publishing, →DOI, →ISBN, section 33.2 (Siwaliks), page 433, column 2:

(geology) Composed of fragments of rock, pebbles, or stones cemented together.


scree

A contract of lease was entered into between the pursuer, who is the proprietor of the estate of Bargaddie, on the one part, and William M'Creath and others, carrying on business under the firm of the Bargaddie Coal Company, on the other part, […] and the lessees becoming bound to pay to the pursuer the sum of £500 sterling of fixed yearly rent, or, in his option, a lordship of 5½d. per cart of the gross output of coals, such cart weighing 13 cwt., and the coals being riddled through a riddle or scree of the customary size.

1859 March 15, John Lorimer, William E[llis] Gloag, James Paterson, “The Bargaddie of Bartonshill Coal Company (Robert Paterson, J. B. Neilson, &c.), Appellants, v. Robert Wark, Respondent”, in Geo[rge] Dingwall Fordyce, editor, The Scottish Jurist: Being Reports of Cases Decided in the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and in the House of Lords on Appeal from Scotland, volume XXXI, Edinburgh: Thomas Constable and Co. and all booksellers, →OCLC, page 324, column 1:


alabaster

From Middle English alabastre, from Old French alabastre, from Latin alabaster (“box for perfumes or unguents”), from Ancient Greek ἀλάβαστρος (alábastros), from earlier ἀλάβαστος (alábastos, “vase without handles for storing perfumes”). This may further derive from Egyptian ꜥj-r-bꜣstjt (“vessel of the Egyptian goddess Bast”). The Latin suffix -aster is unrelated, but may have influenced the spelling of the borrowing from Ancient Greek (whence a direct loan could have been rendered as *alabastrus).

The crown is stored in an alabaster box with an onyx handle and a gold lock.

And being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Mark 14:3:

An enameled miniature of Christ is set in the center of a jeweled alabaster paten, the plate that holds the bread during Communion services.

1980, Colin Thubron, Seafarers: The Venetians, page 41:


quartzite

en-noun

quartzite (countable and uncountable, plural quartzites)

Following the course of the river from New Ulm to Fort Ridgely, there are several exposures of reddish-brown “granite” or quartzites, which has been quarried in a few places, but I do not feel entirely sure of its connection with the rocks in the prairie or at the Ferry below.

1869, James Hall, “Notes upon the Geology of Some Portions of Minnesota, from St. Paul to the Western Part of the State”, in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, volume XIII, page 331:

The stone experimented upon being of the hardest and toughest kind the effect is not seen for several strokes ; but within two minutes, during which the writer watched the experiment, a steel chisel was completely blunted and rendered useless, and there was a hole made about two inches deep in the mass of quartzite placed to operate upon.

1870 November 20, Professor Ansted, “The Passage of the Mont Cenis”, in Sylvanus Urban (pseudonym of Edward Cave), editor, The Gentleman's Magazine, volume 229, page 656:

Granites of the usual type, compact reddish or greyish quartz-felsite or rhyolite alternate one with another. A mica-trap is also found. Evidently this is an extension of the last group of rocks. A specimen of epidotic quartzite proves that there are, at any rate, some indications of the metamorphic series.

1883, T. G. Bonney, “On a Collection of Rock Specimens from the Island of Socotra”, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, volume 174, page 273:

(mineralogy) A metamorphic rock from sandstone, consisting of interlocking grains of quartz.


sedimentary

It's a geological wonderland, with great exposures of colorful and varied sedimentary rocks.

2012, Chinle Miller, In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition:

(geology, of a rock) Made by the deposition and compression of small particles.


isinglass

isinglass (usually uncountable, plural isinglasses)

/ˈaɪzɪŋɡlɑːs/

/ˈaɪzɪŋɡlæs/

Apparently from obsolete Dutch huisenblas, from German Hausenblase, from Hausen (“sturgeon of the Huso genus”) + Blase (“bladder”).

Isinglass flummery.—Put six ounces of isinglass into a quart of new milk, sweeten it, set it over the fire, and keep it stirring one way all the time, till it is jellied; pour it into basins, and when cold turn it out; you may put in orange flower water if you like.

1830, Richard Dolby, The Cook's Dictionary, and House-keeper's Directory: A New Family Manual of Cookery and Confectionery, on a Plan of Ready Reference Never Hitherto Attempted, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, →OCLC, page 292, column 1:

Isinglass is a substance well known in commerce, from its employment both in the arts and in domestic economy. It is the purest known form of animal jelly, and is obtained from the swimming bladder of a few kinds of fish, chiefly of the genus Sturgeon, the Acipenser of zoologists. This is indicated by some of its continental names, of which the English is no doubt a corruption;—thus, in German, Isinglass is called Hausenblase, from hausen the great sturgeon, and blase a bladder.

1842, J[ohn] F[orbes] Royle, On the Production of Isinglass along the Coasts of India, with a Notice of its Fisheries (Goldsmiths'-Kress Library of Economic Literature; no. 32618), London: Wm. H. Allen and Co., Booksellers to the Honourable East-India Company, Leadenhall Street, →OCLC, page 1:

Isinglass is brought to market in different forms, sometimes in that of simple plates, at other times rolled up in different shapes, or cut into fine thread. When of good quality isinglass is of a whitish colour, thin, and semi-transparent, but tough and flexible, destitute of taste as well as of smell. The inferior kinds are thicker, yellowish-coloured, opaque, and sometimes have a fishy smell and taste. In boiling water isinglass is entirely dissolved, with the exception of a very minute portion of impurities.

1858, Catalogue of the Collection of Animal Products Belonging to Her Majesty's Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851, Exhibited in the South Kensington Museum, London: Printed for Her Majesty's Commissioners by W. Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street and Charing Cross, →OCLC, page 68, column 1:

Isinglass.—This is procured from the air-bag or swimming-bladder, sometimes termed the sound, of various fishes. […] Sometimes the bag is dried unopened, as in the case of the purse, pipe, and lump isinglasses of the shops. At other times it is laid open, and submitted to some preparation; being either dried unfolded, as in the leaf and honeycomb isinglasses; or folded, as in the staple (long and short) and book isinglasses; or rolled out, as in the ribbon isinglass.

1868, Jonathan Pereira, “The Gelatinous Alimentary Principle”, in Charles A. Lee, editor, A Treatise on Food and Diet: With Observations on the Dietetical Regimen Suited for Disordered States of the Digestive Organs; and an Account of the Dietaries of Some of the Principal Metropolitan and Other Establishments for Paupers, Lunatics, Criminals, Children, the Sick, &c, New York, N.Y.: Samuel R. Wells, Publisher, 389 Broadway, →OCLC, page 103:

The sturgeon yielded a non-food product that was important for domestic and commercial use. This was isinglass, a gelatinous substance that was derived from the inner membrane of the air bladder (also called the swimbladder, or sound). Isinglass had a variety of uses. The Ojibway valued it as an effective binding agent in the manufacture of paint. Isinglass was also a product much in demand in Europe during the fur trade period. It was noted as producing a high quality glue and as a fining agent for beers and wines.

1991, Tim E. Holzkamm, Victor P. Lytwyn, Leo G. Waisberg, “Rainy River Sturgeon: An Ojibway Resource in the Fur Trade Economy”, in Kerry [Margaret] Abel, Jean Friesen, editors, Aboriginal Resource Use in Canada: Historical and Legal Aspects (Manitoba Studies in Native History; 6), Winnipeg, Manitoba: University of Manitoba Press, →ISBN, page 128:

Not all fish have swim bladders, and those from certain tropical or semitropical areas (roughly 20° N and 15° S) provide the best quality isinglass for fining purposes. Of these fish, the threadfin family (Polynemoidia) provide excellent quality. In order to gain a desirable fining quality for a particular beer type, two or more kinds of isinglass may be blended. To illustrate this more precisely, Polynemus isinglass provides a fining that settles densely, whereas Silurus isinglass, from the great catfish family (Siluridae) in South America, gives a more flocculant fining but which settles less densely and consequently is more easily disturbed.

1994, William A. Hardwick, editor, Handbook of Brewing (Food Science and Technology; 64), New York, N.Y.: Marcel Dekker, Inc., →ISBN, page 222:

A form of gelatine obtained from the air bladder of the sturgeon and certain other fish, used as an adhesive and as a clarifying agent for wine and beer.


menhir

PIE word
 *méǵh₂s
Either borrowed from French menhir, or from its etymon Breton maen-hir (literally “long stone”), from maen (“stone”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s (“big, great”)) + hir (“long”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“long; lasting”)). Cognate with Cornish mênhere, Welsh maen hir.

der

Near-synonym: orthostat

[N]o time has passed since we lived in caves, grappled with fish at the reedy shore, buried our dead with a song, with red-ochre and pulled up our dolmens, temples and menhirs and standing stones to the glory of some indeterminate god or gods, […]

1963, Thomas Pynchon, “Confessions of Fausto Maijstral”, in V.: […], Philadelphia, Pa., New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC, pages 310–311:

On the coast tree ferns and pandanus palms. Inland termite menhirs seventeen feet high.

1980, Anthony Burgess, chapter 39, in Earthly Powers, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, London: Penguin Books, published 1981, →ISBN, page 280:

(archaeology) A single tall standing stone as a monument, especially one dating to prehistoric times.


trachyte

en-noun

trachyte (countable and uncountable, plural trachytes)

From French trachyte, from Ancient Greek τρᾱχύς (trākhús, “rough”).

The type of rock that results is often described as trachyte and contains abundant crystals of a different kind of alkali-rich feldspar, such as sanidine, rather than plagioclase.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 52:

(geology) A pale igneous rock consisting mostly of potassium feldspar and plagioclase.


hypabyssal

(geology, of rock) that solidifies, as a minor intrusion, before reaching the Earth's surface


radiolarite

radiolarite (countable and uncountable, plural radiolarites)

It comprehends the following generally flat-lying members: Hauptdolomit, Platten Limestone, Kossen Beds, Rhae- tian reef Limestone, Liassic marls and limestones, up to 350 m thick siliceous, radiolarite-bearing strata

1980, Geologische Bundesanstalt (Austria), Outline of the geology of Austria and selected excursions:

The conodont-dominated assemblages with strongly impoverished to totally lacking benthos contained in the soft radiolarite-bearing shales of the Ponikev Formation are typical of units deposited during this time

1984, Časopis pro mineralogii a geologii, volume 29, page 145:

(uncountable, countable) radiolarian ooze, or the sedimentary rock formed from it.


obsidian

obsidian (usually uncountable, plural obsidians)

From Latin obsidianus; named after Obsidius, who was, according to Pliny, the Roman who discovered the stone in Aethiopia.

The Neolithic culture from 8000 to 6000 B.C., however, was a brilliant period of the revival of crafts, the transformation of gathering into gardening, the growth of a cross-cultural obsidian trade, and the rise of towns.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 130:

(mineralogy) A type of naturally occurring black glass produced by volcanoes.

lawaglas

a type of black glass produced by volcanoes


emery

emery (usually uncountable, plural emeries)

From French émeri, from Old French esmeril, from Italian smeriglio.

It took me from nine to ten days to grind and polish it ready for parabolising and silvering. I did this by hand labour with the aid of emery, but without a lathe. I finally used rouge instead of emery in grinding down the glass, until I could see my face in the mirror quite plain.

1884, Samuel Smiles, Men of Invention and Industry:

(petrology) An impure type of corundum, often used for sanding or polishing.


clastic

From Ancient Greek κλαστός (klastós, “broken in pieces”), from κλάω (kláō, “to break”) + -ic.

uder

Made up of parts that are easily removable.

clàstic

made up of parts that are easily removable

(geology, of rock) Made from fragments of pre-existing rocks.

clàstic

made from fragments of pre-existing rocks


clastic

(geology) A rock made from fragments of pre-existing rocks.


rock sequence

A suite of rocks containing a variety of separate strata, with an overall lithology that can be used to interpret the paleoenvironment of deposition over a certain period.


kimberlite

en-noun

kimberlite (countable and uncountable, plural kimberlites)

From Kimberley + -ite, from the name of the South African town of Kimberley where the mineral was first found.

Some researchers think that the warming was caused as kimberlite pipes (volcanic vents originating deep in the Earth’s mantle) reached the surface near Lac de Gras in northern Canada and released huge amounts of carbon.

2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 54:

(geology) A variety of peridotite containing a high proportion of carbon dioxide; often contains diamonds.


Plutonian

en-adj

Plutonian (comparative more Plutonian, superlative most Plutonian)

more Plutonian (comparative)
most Plutonian (superlative)

The adjective is derived from Latin Plūtōnius (“of or relating to Pluto, Greek and Roman god of the underworld”) + -an (suffix forming adjectives). Plūtōnius is from Ancient Greek Πλουτώνιος (Ploutṓnios, “of or relating to Pluto”), from Πλούτων (Ploútōn, “Pluto”) (from πλοῦτος (ploûtos, “riches, wealth”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *plew- (“to fly; to flow; to run”)) + -ων (-ōn)) + -ιος (-ios, suffix forming adjectives). The English word is cognate with Middle French plutonien (modern French plutonien). The noun is derived from the adjective.

plutonien

of, pertaining to, or supporting plutonism — see also Plutonic

[…] he through the midſt unmarkt, / In ſhew Plebeian Angel militant / Of loweſt order, paſt; and from the dore / Of that Plutonian Hall, inviſible / Aſcended his high Throne, […]

1674, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], 2nd edition, London: […] S[amuel] Simmons […], →OCLC, page 264:

["]Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore— / Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!" / Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

1845 February, — Quarles [pseudonym; Edgar Allan Poe], “The Raven”, in The American Review, volume I, number II, New York, N.Y., London: Wiley & Putnam, […], →OCLC, page 144:

You rise by candle-light or gaslight, swearing / There never was a climate made like ours; / If rashly you go out to take an airing, / The soot-flakes come in black Plutonian show'rs.

1882 December 30, “A London Fog”, in Punch, or The London Charivari, volume 83, London: Published at the office, 85, Fleet Street, →OCLC, page 301, column 1:

Cotopaxi is striking not only because it looks like a science fiction conception of another planet; it also is the least realistic among [Frederic Edwin] Church's paintings of the area. […] Below the fiery sun is a lake with a barren shore. As such, the sun hangs over a Plutonian landscape.

2008, Rodrigo Lazo, “The Ends of Enchantment: Douglass, Melville, and U.S. Expansionism in the Americas”, in Robert S[teven] Levine, Samuel Otter, editors, Frederick Douglass & Herman Melville: Essays in Relation, Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, part I (Literary and Cultural Geographies), page 210:

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) Of or relating to Pluto, the Greek and Roman god of the underworld; demonic, infernal.

Plutoniin liittyvä

of or relating to Pluto, the Greek and Roman god of the underworld

plutonic

(by extension, geology) Synonym of plutonic (“of or pertaining to rocks formed deep in the Earth's crust, rather than by volcanoes at the surface of the Earth”)

One system, now called the Plutonian, regards, the earth's crust on which we now live, as the debris of two former worlds, and our present continents as the elevations of the bottom of the sea by subterranean heat. If this theory be founded on fact, why do not our rocks present us with beds of shell-fish in families as are now living at the bottom of the sea?

1822, Joseph Sutcliffe, The Geology of the Avon, being an Enquiry into the Order of the Strata and Mineral Productions of the District Washed by Its Streams, Bristol: Printed by Philip Rose, […]; for Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, […]; and Thomas Blanchard, […], →OCLC, pages 3–4:

The country around Aberdeen is almost entirely composed of primitive rocks. Of these there are two sets, Neptunian and Plutonian. […] the Plutonian rocks are granite, with feldspar, or granitic porphyry. […] the great bodies of Plutonian granite, as those exposed in the celebrated granite quarries, render it probable that the stratified Neptunian rocks owe much of their contorted and broken aspect, and also, in some degree, their position, to the action of this igneous rock.

1830 July–September, “Notes. … 2. Walk from Aberdeen to Castleton of Braemar—Country around Castleton—From Castleton to Spittal of Glen Shee and Blair Gowrie. …”, in Robert Jameson, editor, The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, Exhibiting a View of the Progressive Discoveries and Improvements in the Sciences and the Arts, Edinburgh: Printed for Adam Black, […]; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green, →OCLC, pages 269–270:

(by extension, geology, historical) Synonym of plutonic (“of, pertaining to, or supporting plutonism, the theory that the rocks of the Earth were formed in fire by volcanic activity, with a continuing gradual process of weathering and erosion, then deposited on the sea bed, re-formed into layers of sedimentary rock by heat and pressure, and raised again”)


Plutonian

From Pluto (“dwarf planet in the Solar System”) + -n- + -ian (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘from, related to, or like’, or nouns meaning ‘one belonging to, relating to, or like’), probably influenced by Plutonian (“of or relating to Pluto, Greek and Roman god of the underworld”) (see etymology 1).

affix

If you are a Plutonian and some of these traits emphatically do not fit you, just let them go and take what is helpful and descriptive of you personally. What will be given is a composite picture, based on working with a great many Plutonians over the years. Plutonians who are negatively inclined are often very guarded and rigid, afraid to let others get close. [...] There are Plutonians who operate predominantly on the positive level—healing, transforming, transmuting themselves and those around them.

1986, Donna Cunningham, “The Personality and Character of the Plutonian”, in Healing Pluto Problems, Boston, Mass.: Weiser Books, Red Wheel/Weiser, →ISBN, page 28:

(astrology) A person under the astrological influence of Pluto, formerly regarded as a planet.


ultramafic

en-adj

ultramafic (comparative more ultramafic, superlative most ultramafic)

more ultramafic (comparative)
most ultramafic (superlative)

(geology) Describing igneous rocks that contain magnesium and iron and only a very small amount of silica, such as are found in the Earth’s mantle.


gneiss

en-noun

gneiss (usually uncountable, plural gneisses)

From German Gneis, from Middle High German gneist (“spark”), from Old High German gneisto (“spark”). More at gnast.

The old towns along the route are as solidly built from the gneiss of the region as you might expect.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 98:

(geology) A common and widely-distributed metamorphic rock having bands or veins, but not schistose.


metamorphic rock

metamorphic rock (countable and uncountable, plural metamorphic rocks)

(geology) one of the major groups of rock that makes up the crust of the Earth; consists of pre-existing rock mass in which new minerals or textures are formed at higher temperatures and greater pressures than those present on the Earth's surface


igneous rock

igneous rock (countable and uncountable, plural igneous rocks)

(geology) One of the major groups of rock that makes up the crust of the Earth; formed by the cooling of molten rock, either below the surface (intrusive) or on the surface (extrusive).


sedimentary rock

sedimentary rock (countable and uncountable, plural sedimentary rocks)

It's a geological wonderland, with great exposures of colorful and varied sedimentary rocks.

2012, Chinle Miller, In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition:

(geology) One of the major groups of rock that makes up the crust of the Earth; formed by the deposition of either the weathered remains of other rocks, the results of biological activity, or precipitation from solution.


migmatite

From Swedish migmatit, from Ancient Greek μίγμα (mígma, “mixture”) + Swedish -it (“-ite”).

More specifically, many of these rocks are described as migmatites, in which the pink veins seem to blend insensibly into a kind of swirling granite.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 163:

(geology) Any rock of mixed appearance, being an intimate mixture of granite and older rock, specifically from intense metamorphism which partially melts the rock, causing it to recrystallize in a state intermediate between igneous and metamorphic.

migmatito

Intimate mixture of granite and older rock


pyroxenite

pyroxenite (countable and uncountable, plural pyroxenites)

(geology) A heavy, dark igneous rock consisting mostly of pyroxene minerals with smaller amounts of olivine and hornblende.


xenolith

(geology) Any piece of rock having a different origin to that of the igneous rock in which it is found.

ksenoliitti

geology: any piece of rock having a different origin to that of the igneous rock in which it is found


mylonite

mylonite (countable and uncountable, plural mylonites)

/ˈmʌɪlənʌɪt/

From Ancient Greek μυλών (mulṓn, “mill”) + -ite.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century the crush rock known as mylonite had been recognised, a rocky paste that was ground when one mighty rock mass was pushed bodily – or thrust – over another.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society 2011, page 87:

(geology) Any rock that has undergone modifications due to dynamic recrystallization following plastic flow; a schist created by crushed or ground rock.


nephelinite

nephelinite (countable and uncountable, plural nephelinites)

(geology) A darkish, finely crystalline rock of volcanic origin, being a mixture of nepheline and pyroxene


oil sand

oil sand (countable and uncountable, plural oil sands)

A relatively loose sandstone, or porous carbonate rock, impregnated with bitumen.

tjæresand

relatively loose sandstone or porous carbonate rock impregnated with bitumen


omphacite

omphacite (usually uncountable, plural omphacites)

From Ancient Greek ὄμφαξ (ómphax, “unripe fruit, especially grapes”) + -ite.

der

(mineralogy) Any of a range of green, monoclinic pyroxene minerals found in eclogites and similar rocks; they are solid solutions of jadeite and diopside.


eclogite

en-noun

eclogite (countable and uncountable, plural eclogites)

/ˈɛklədʒʌɪt/

From Ancient Greek ἐκλογή (eklogḗ, “selection”), + -ite.

der

Assiduoud field-workers have discovered little pods of a rock called eclogite in the rocks around San Bernardino.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 101:

(petrology) A coarse-grained metamorphic rock, a mixture of pyroxene, quartz, and feldspar with inclusions of red garnet.


oolite

en-noun

oolite (countable and uncountable, plural oolites)

Here and there are beds of oolites, for example, made of little rounded grains – like millet seed – that form only in agitated warm waters, such as you might find off the Bahamas today.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 170:

(geology) A rock consisting of spherical grains within a mineral cortex accreted around a nucleus, often of quartz grains.


breccia

breccia (usually uncountable, plural breccias)

Borrowed from Italian breccia, from French brèche, from Middle French breche, from Old French breche, from Vulgar Latin *breca, of Germanic origin, from Frankish *breka.

Courses of angular boulders line the rim of the volcano, the remains of its last explosive phase, resulting in a volcanic breccia.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 24:

(petrology) A rock composed of angular fragments in a matrix that may be of a similar or a different material.


peridotite

peridotite (countable and uncountable, plural peridotites)

Varieties of peridotite are distinguished by their mineral composition; for example, dunite is a peridotite which is virtually all olivine, and a dense, dark green in colour.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 60:

(geology) A rock consisting of small crystals of olivine, pyroxene and hornblende; the major constituent of the Earth's mantle.


tufa

tufa (countable and uncountable, plural tufas)

From Italian tufo, from Latin tōfus or tōphus. Doublet of tuff.

1825, "Oliver Oldschool" (Joseph Dennie), John Elihu Hall (editors), The Port Folio, page 426,
This again is followed by a bed of stony tufa of a reddish colour, containing fragments of a spongy lava, amphigone, pyroxene, mica, and common lava; and, like the former, traversed by argillaceous veins.

(petrology) A variety of volcanic rock, tuff.


phonolite

From phono- + -lite, from the metallic sound when it is hit.

(mineralogy) a light-coloured rock of volcanic origin composed mostly of alkali feldspars


phyllite

phyllite (countable and uncountable, plural phyllites)

From Ancient Greek φῠ́λλον (phúllon, “leaf”) + -ite.

(geology) A type of metamorphic rock formed from clay-rich sediments called pelites.


pitchstone

pitchstone (usually uncountable, plural pitchstones)

(geology) a natural glass, rich in microscopic crystallites, formed by the rapid cooling of lava or magma


phosphorite

phosphorite (countable and uncountable, plural phosphorites)

(mineralogy) a sedimentary rock rich in phosphate minerals such as apatite


pyroclastic rock

pyroclastic rock (plural pyroclastic rocks)

(volcanology) Any rock formed by the accumulation of fragmented volcanic material (pyroclasts) ejected during explosive eruptions.


anthracite

anthracite (countable and uncountable, plural anthracites)

/ˈænθɹəˌsaɪt/

From Latin, from Ancient Greek ἀνθρακῖτις (anthrakîtis, “a kind of coal”), from ἄνθραξ (ánthrax, “charcoal”). By surface analysis, anthrac- + -ite.

uder

A form of carbonized ancient plants; the hardest and cleanest-burning of all the coals.


basalt

en-noun

basalt (countable and uncountable, plural basalts)

From Late Latin basaltes, a misspelling of Latin basanites, from Ancient Greek βασανίτης (basanítēs), from βάσανος (básanos, “touchstone”), from Egyptian bḫn (“a hard stone”), b-x:n-O39

(mineralogy) A hard mafic igneous rock of varied mineral content; volcanic in origin, which makes up much of the Earth's oceanic crust.


redbed

(geology) any clastic and sedimentary rock that is pigmented with red ferric oxide


brownstone

brownstone (countable and uncountable, plural brownstones)

Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto, I’ve lived all over this town.

1979, Talking Heads, Life During Wartime:

Did I mention he lives in a fantastic, expensive-looking brownstone? Did I mention that he’s a published novelist? Did I mention that he’s an involved, attentive father?

2014 October 9, James Poniewozik, “Review: The Affair: More Than Meets the "I"”, in Time:

They emerge from the car to face a pair of brownstones, stately narrow things, which seem to have been similarly renovated and decorated.

2020, N. K. Jemisin, The City We Became, Orbit, page 203:

(countable) A row house built of brownstone, especially in New York City.


rock varnish

rock varnish (countable and uncountable, plural rock varnishes)

A dark coating on rock surfaces exposed to the atmosphere, mostly comprising clay and oxides, which grows at only a few micrometers per thousand years; found especially in arid deserts.


serpentinite

(geology) a metamorphic rock composed of serpentine minerals formed by the hydration of ultramafic rocks


skarn

Borrowed from Swedish skarn (“skarn, filth”), from Old Norse skarn, from Proto-Germanic *skarną. Doublet of sharn.

(geology) Any of various metamorphic rocks formed by metasomatism.


soapstone

soapstone (countable and uncountable, plural soapstones)

From soap + stone; so called because the archetypal varieties of the stone resemble soap in multiple ways: their feel, appearance, and carvability. First use appears c. 1681, in the writings of Nehemiah Grew.

steatite

often synonymous; more information at soapstone § Terminology

To have a reliable fire, you'll need to carve a lamp from soapstone (you know what soapstone looks like, right?), render some oil for the lamp from blubber, and make a wick out of a particular species of moss.

2016, Joseph Henrich, chapter 3, in The Secret of Our Success […] , Princeton: Princeton University Press, →ISBN:

(geology) A soft rock, rich in talc, also containing serpentine and either magnetite, dolomite or calcite.


flintstone

From Middle English flynt ston; equivalent to flint + stone.

The very poor will sometimes adorn the graves of those they love with oystershells, or flintstones, or small plaster busts, or tiles […]

1858, Ecclesiological Society, The Ecclesiologist:

At times when there was inadequate sunlight to focus through the lens, the king struck flintstones to ignite the flame in the same way.

1991, Damrong Rajanubhab Damrongrāchānuphāp, Journey through Burma in 1936:

They stacked flintstones in a way that permitted night winds to pass around them and cool them so they collected moisture.

1964, United States Dept. of Agriculture, Yearbook of Agriculture:


extrusive

en-adj

extrusive (comparative more extrusive, superlative most extrusive)

more extrusive (comparative)
most extrusive (superlative)

(geology) Of rocks: forced, while in a plastic or molten state, on to the Earth's surface to lie atop existing rocks.

ekstrusiivinen

of molten rock forced on to the Earth's surface


extrusive

(geology) Rock which has been formed through volcanic extrusion.


spilite

(geology) a very fine-grained igneous rock, resembling an altered basalt, containing feldspar together with chlorite, calcite, and epidote etc.


mafic

mafic (comparative more mafic, superlative most mafic)

more mafic (comparative)
most mafic (superlative)

As a whole, rocks of this type are referred to as mafic, because of the importance of magnesium and iron in their composition.

(geology) Describing rocks, such as silicate minerals, magmas, and volcanic and intrusive igneous rocks, which contain relatively high concentrations of magnesium and iron.

mafinen

describing rocks, such as silicate minerals, magmas, and volcanic and intrusive igneous rocks, which contain relatively high concentrations of magnesium and iron


radiolite

(geology) A form of igneous rock that has a radial, fanlike texture of crystals; a hippurite


travertine

en-noun

travertine (countable and uncountable, plural travertines)

From Italian travertino, earlier tivertino, from Latin tīburtīnus (“Tiburtine”).

[...] imitation travertine, resembling marble, has been used to cover the station exterior, [...].

1941 January, “Notes and News: The Hitler Station in Rome”, in Railway Magazine, page 33:

Halder stopped outside a seven-storey building sheathed in pale travertine marble.

2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 191:

(mineralogy) A light, porous form of concretionary limestone (or calcite) deposited from solution, and sometimes quarried for building.

տրավերտին

form of concretionary limestone or calcite


bluestone

bluestone (countable and uncountable, plural bluestones)

From Cyprus were brought bricks of lead, with bluestone and elephant's tusks, and the vases were carved in fanciful designs, with the heads of goats, lions, bulls, and eagles.

1892, Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell, Littell's Living Age, page 23:

[…] but the “bluestone,” or lapis lazuli, was quarried by the Egyptians in the Sinaitic peninsula, and to these mines, perhaps, the author refers.

Likewise, mineral analysis led him to the discovery of ultramarine or artificial lapis lazuli. […] Moreover, as should be noted, a so-called "Babel lazulite" was offered as tribute in addition to the genuine lapis lazuli or bluestone, and the Egyptians themselves manufactured this artificial lazulite.

1965, Aaron John Ihde, William Franklin Kieffer, Selected readings in the history of chemistry:

Cedar from the Lebanon forests; lapis lazuli bluestone from sources as far away as Afghanistan; and ivory, ebony, [and] gold, […]

2013, William H. Peck, The Material World of Ancient Egypt, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN:

Lapis lazuli, or its core constituent, lazurite.


amphibolite

amphibolite (countable and uncountable, plural amphibolites)

At that time, the Gondwana supercontinent was located at the southern part of the Southern Hemisphere, developed amphibolite metamorphism and formed the united crystalline basement at about 510 Ma.

2020, Tianfeng Wan, The Tectonics and Metallogenesis of Asia, Springer Nature, →ISBN, page 113:

Any of a class of metamorphic rocks composed mainly of amphibole with some quartz etc.

amfibolit

metamorphic rock composed mainly of amphibole


andesite

andesite (countable and uncountable, plural andesites)

(geology) Any of a class of fine-grained intermediate igneous rock, of volcanic origin, containing mostly plagioclase feldspar.

安山岩

any of a class of fine-grained intermediate igneous rock


anorthosite

anorthosite (countable and uncountable, plural anorthosites)

The second, or Labrador series is characterized, as already remarked, by the predominance of great beds of anorthosite, composed chiefly of triclinic feldspars […]

1863, T. Sterry Hunt, "On the Chemical and Mineralogical Relations of Metamorphic Rocks", The American Journal of Science and Arts, Volume XXXVI, November, 1863, page 224

(petrology) A phaneritic, intrusive igneous rock characterized by a predominance of plagioclase feldspar.


aplite

aplite (countable and uncountable, plural aplites)

(geology) A fine-grained granitic rock composed mostly of quartz and feldspars.

apliitti

a fine-grained granitic rock composed mostly of quartz and feldspars


arkose

arkose (countable and uncountable, plural arkoses)

(geology) A sedimentary rock consisting of small fragments of feldspar and quartz similar to a coarse sand.

arcosa

a sedimentary rock consisting of small fragments of feldspar and quartz


blueschist

blueschist (countable and uncountable, plural blueschists)

(geology) A metamorphic rock containing glaucophane.


Burgess Shale

A rock formation in the Canadian Rockies that contains very many fossils from the Cambrian period.


carbonatite

carbonatite (countable and uncountable, plural carbonatites)

(geology) Any intrusive igneous rock having a majority of carbonate minerals


greisen

greisen (countable and uncountable, plural greisens)

(geology) A highly altered granitic rock containing quartz and mica.


siltstone

siltstone (countable and uncountable, plural siltstones)

A sedimentary rock whose composition is intermediate in grain size between the coarser sandstone and the finer mudstone.


mudstone

mudstone (countable and uncountable, plural mudstones)

The new fossils come from mudstones in central Poland, in beds that have been dated using other, much more common and cosmopolitan, fossils.

2018 March 23, Susannah Lydon, The Guardian:

Excavation of the twin bore tunnel will produce around 500,000 tonnes of mudstone and soil, which will be processed on site and then reused to build embankments elsewhere along the route.

2022 December 14, Paul Stephen, “HS2's Dorothy starts to dig second tunnel bore”, in RAIL, number 972, page 22:

(petrology) A fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds.


granodiorite

The dominant intruding rocks into the metamorphosed rocks of the Oban massif are granodiorites (Fig. 1).

1996, Bart N. Ekwueme, Alfred Kröner, “Emplacement Age of the Uwet Granodiorite and Implications for the Technothermal Evolution of the Oban Massif Southeastern Nigeria”, in R. Chandra, R.K. Srivastava, editors, Magmatism in Relation to Diverse Tectonic Settings, page 346:

Of the high-silica, coarse-grained, quartz-rich igneous rocks, granodiorites are quantitatively the most important.

2009, George Rapp, Archaeomineralogy, page 51:

Most of the rocks in the calc-alkaline association are granitoids, that is they are granites, granodiorites and tonalites all containing >20% quartz, with feldspar, mica and amphibole in various combinations (Chapter 3, Figures 3.10 and 3.11).

2011, Dougal Jerram, Nick Petford, The Field Description of Igneous Rocks, unnumbered page:

(petrology) An intrusive igneous rock similar to granite, but containing more plagioclase than potassium feldspar.


dolerite

dolerite (countable and uncountable, plural dolerites)

From French dolérite, from Ancient Greek δολερός (dolerós, “deceitful, deceptive”), because it was easily confounded with diorite, + -ite.

der

(geology) A type of fine-grained basaltic rock.


diabase

en-noun

diabase (countable and uncountable, plural diabases)

From French diabase, from Ancient Greek διάβασις (diábasis).

(geology) A fine-grained igneous rock composed mostly of pyroxene and feldspar.


lamproite

(geology) Any of several volcanic rocks having a high potassium content


dacite

From German Dazit, from Latin Dācia (“greater Romania”). First used in 1863 by Austrian geologists Franz von Hauer and Guido Stache, in a description of the geology of Transylvania.

(geology) An igneous, volcanic rock with a high iron content.

dazita

an igneous, volcanic rock with a high iron content


pseudotachylite

(mineralogy) A dark, glassy rock generated by frictional heat within faults

pseudotakyliitti

a dark, glassy rock generated by frictional heat within faults


aeolianite

From aeolian + -ite.
notes on coinage
Sayles (1931) first coined this term to refer to any sediment deposited by the wind and subsequently lithified. The definition of Fairbridge and Johnson (1978) reflects the widely accepted use of the term to define dune calcarenite.
* Sayles, R.W., 1931. Bermuda during the ice age. Proceeding of the America Academy of Arts and Science 66, 381–467.
* Fairbridge, R.W., Johnson, D.L., 1978. Eolianite. In: Fairbridge, R.W., Bourgeois, J.(Eds.)., The Encyclopedia of Sedimentology. Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross, Stroudsburg, PA, pp. 279–282.

(geology) A rock formed from dune sand, often calcareous.


hawaiite

(geology) An olivine basalt intermediate between alkali olivine and mugearite.

(mineralogy) A gem variety of olivine peridot.


felsic

en-adj

felsic (comparative more felsic, superlative most felsic)

more felsic (comparative)
most felsic (superlative)

Much of the southern half of the southeastern body is a mafic syenite, slightly more felsic than the shonkinite.

1954, J. C. Olson, D. R. Shawe, L. C. Pray, W. N. Sharp, Rare-Earth Mineral Deposits of the Mountain Pass District, San Bernadino County, California, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 261, U.S. Department of the Interior, page 22:

1983, Paul C. Bateman, A summary of critical relations in the central part of Sierra Nevada batholith, California, U.S.A., J. A. Roddick (editor), Circum-Pacific Plutonic Terranes, Geological Society of America Memoir 159, page 241,
Within comagmatic suites, successively younger granitoids are commonly, but not invariably, more felsic, representing progressively lower temperature mineral assemblages.

1992, David C. Champion, Bruce W. Chappell, Petrogenesis of felsic I-type granites: an example from northern Queensland, P. E. Brown, B. W. Chappell (editors), The Second Hutton Symposium on the Origin of Granites and Related Rocks, Proceedings, Geological Society of America Special Paper 272, [Originally published in Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, Volume 83], page 115,
The Claret Creek Supersuite granites are a little more felsic (65-77% SiO₂), and are chemically distinctive, having higher Al₂O₃, CaO, Na₂O and Sr, and lower K₂O, Rb, Th and U than the granites of the Almaden Supersuite.

(petrology) Enriched in minerals predominantly composed of the lighter elements such as silicon, oxygen, aluminium, sodium, and potassium.


kieselguhr

en-noun

kieselguhr (countable and uncountable, plural kieselguhrs)

/ˈkiːzəlɡʊə/

Borrowed from German Kieselguhr, from Kiesel (“pebble, gravel”) + Guhr (“guhr”).

compound

It was the only name anybody seemed to know him by, “Kieselguhr” being a kind of fine clay, used to soak up nitroglycerine and stabilize it into dynamite.

2006, Thomas Pynchon, “Iceland Spar”, in Against the Day, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 171:

Diatomaceous earth, a kind of soft rock containing the remains of diatoms; it absorbs nitroglycerine and is used to manufacture dynamite.


mozarkite

Missouri + Ozarks + -ite (because the Missouri Ozarks were the primary source); appeared in print 1837.

(mineralogy) A particular kind of rock, a form of chert, native to Missouri.


lias

Originally dialectal, from Old French liois (“compact limestone”) (French liais), from Medieval Latin liae (see lees).


greensand

en-noun

greensand (countable and uncountable, plural greensands)

The numerous beds of coarse Oolites, which in England in general occur below the lyas and greensand, are entirely wanting in Ireland: But this is the case also in the neighbourhood of Lime-Regis in Dorsetshire, which place affords an exact counterpart of the Irish series here described.

1817 November, “Art. IV. Transactions of the Geological Society, Established November 1807. Vol. III. 4to. pp. 444. W. Phillips, London, 1816. [book review]”, in The Edinburgh Review, or Critical Journal, volume XXIX, number LVII, Edinburgh: Printed by David Willison, for Archibald Constable and Company, Edinburgh; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, published 1818, →OCLC, page 77:

The Sassafras soils occur on the Atlantic coastal plain from the mouth of Chesapeake Bay to Long Island. They are developed from coastal-plain materials consisting of sand and clay, free from lime carbonates or greensand.

1927, L[inwood] L[awrence] Lee, J. E. Tine, “Collington Loam”, in Soil Survey of the Freehold Area, New Jersey (United States Department of Agriculture Series 1927; no. 33), [Washington, D.C.]: Bureau of Chemistry and Soils [United States Department of Agriculture] in cooperation with the Department of Conservation and Development of New Jersey and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, →OCLC, page 15:

Glauconite occurs as granules which may be mixed in all proportions with ordinary sand. Some greensands contain over fifty percent glauconite. The glauconite may be concentrated in certain laminations or scattered throughout the sand. If abundant enough, it imparts a speckled appearance to the rock.

1972, F[rancis] J[ohn] Pettijohn, Paul Edwin Potter, Raymond Siever, Sand and Sandstone, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, →ISBN; republished Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1984 (5th printing), →DOI, →ISBN, page 228:

Some filtering materials are used for special purposes rather than general use. One such material is greensand, sometimes referred to as "manganese greensand." […] [M]anganese greensand is produced when greensand (the mineral glauconite, a natural zeolite) is treated with manganous sulfate followed by potassium permanganate. This process forms a manganese-coated greensand, which can remove soluble iron and manganese. When the removal capacity of the manganese greensand is exhausted, it can be restored by soaking the filter bed in potassium permanganate. In many water treatment plants, potassium permanganate is continuously fed into the influent water, so the manganese greensand can be continuously regenerated.

2002, Gary S. Logsdon, Alan F. Hess, Michael J. Chipps, Anthony J. Rachwal, “The Regulatory Environment”, in Filter Maintenance and Operations Guidance Manual, [Denver, Colo.]: Awwa Research Foundation and American Water Works Association, →ISBN, page 11-3:

A useful product called greensand (glauconite) is mined from petrified seaweed deposits. In addition to potassium, greensand contains a whole range of trace elements, also called micronutrients, which are minor minerals like iron, sulfur, zinc, copper, and boron. We call them minor because they are only needed in small amounts by plants, but they are nonetheless vital to plant health and vigor.

2013 February, Barbara Damrosch, Eliot Coleman, “The Soil”, in The Four Season Farm Gardener’s Cookbook: From the Garden to the Table in 120 Recipes, New York, N.Y.: Workman Publishing Company, →ISBN, part 1 (The Garden), page 26:

(geology) A greenish sandstone containing glauconite.


greenstone

greenstone (countable and uncountable, plural greenstones)

(New Zealand) pounamu, the green-hued minerals of New Zealand used by Māori to make tools, ornaments and weapons (any of three varieties of nephrite jade or one variety of bowenite)


dunite

dunite (countable and uncountable, plural dunites)

Named after Dun Mountain near Nelson, New Zealand, + -ite.

A type of igneous rock with a coarse-grained or phaneritic texture.


jasperoid

(mineralogy) A rare dense siliceous rock similar in appearance to chert.


komatiite

Any of a class of ultramafic mantle-derived volcanic rocks that have a high magnesium content.


poikilotopic

en-adj

poikilotopic (comparative more poikilotopic, superlative most poikilotopic)

more poikilotopic (comparative)
most poikilotopic (superlative)

(geology) Describing a crystalline sedimentary rock having multisized crystals the larger of which enclose small ones, often of a different mineral


volcaniclastic

(geology) Being a clastic rock chiefly composed of volcanic materials


volcaniclastic

(geology) A clastic rock chiefly composed of volcanic materials


eucrite

From Ancient Greek ἐυκρινής (eukrinḗs, “well-distinguished”) and the English suffix + -ite.

uder

The recommended criterion is based on the amount of magnesian ortho‐pyroxenite (diogenite) component in the meteorite. Howardites contain more than 10% and polymict eucrites contain less than 10%.

1983, Jeremy S. Delaney et al., “The Nomenclature of Polymict Basaltic Achondrites”, in Meteoritics & Planetary Science, volume 18, number 2, →DOI:

(geology) An achondritic meteoritic rock consisting chiefly of pigeonite and anorthite


felsite

The buff-colored dacites of the Superstition Mountains are felsites.

(mineralogy) A fine grained volcanic extrusive rock, generally light in color, composed of felsic minerals.


phaneritic

en-adj

phaneritic (comparative more phaneritic, superlative most phaneritic)

more phaneritic (comparative)
most phaneritic (superlative)

(geology, petrology) Pertaining to phanerites, igneous rocks composed of macroscopic mineral crystals (coarse grains large enough to be visible to the naked eye).


paragneiss

(geology) A gneiss derived from a sedimentary rock.


orthogneiss

(geology) A gneiss derived from an igneous rock.


graystone

en-noun

graystone (countable and uncountable, plural graystones)

I certainly was not prepared for the cosy nestling valleys that snuggled against the shoulders of the hills; a land where the graystone cottages and farmsteads still prevailed, but where they had taken on something of the softness of their kind in Gloucester and the Cotswolds, and seemed almost like growths of the soil; […].

1949 January and February, F. G. Roe, “I Saw Three Englands–1”, in Railway Magazine, page 12:

Founded almost 50 years ago, it's an imposing graystone structure (formerly a park district office).

2009 January 4, “Letters: Mr. Obama’s Neighborhood”, in New York Times:

(uncountable, attributive) Any type of gray stone, such as limestone, used in building.


dolostone

(geology) A sedimentary carbonate rock that contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite.


troctolite

troctolite (usually uncountable, plural troctolites)

Here, we report a magnetic study of an unshocked ancient rock with a well-constrained thermal history, troctolite 76535.

2009 January 16, Ian Garrick-Bethell et al., “Early Lunar Magnetism”, in Science, volume 323, number 5912, →DOI:

(geology) A rare type of ultramafic intrusive rock, consisting primarily of olivine and calcic plagioclase


laminite

(geology) Any sedimentary rock composed of very fine layers.


diamictite

(geology) A sedimentary, calcareous conglomerate containing a mixture of particles; mixtite


gritstone

gritstone (countable and uncountable, plural gritstones)

Adjacent to the roundhouse, but a little further north towards Curzon Street, are the surprising remains of the wagon turntables for the goods shed. Unusually, these are made out of solid gritstone so survive pretty much intact.

2020 April 8, Paul Bigland, “Rail's future revealing railway's past”, in Rail, page 38:

A form of sedimentary rock, similar to sandstone but coarser.


claystone

claystone (countable and uncountable, plural claystones)

(geology) Sedimentary rock composed of fine clay particles.

kleisteen

sedimentary rock composed of fine, clay particles


metasediment

(petrology) A metamorphosed sedimentary rock.


pelite

pelite (countable and uncountable, plural pelites)

(geology) A sedimentary rock containing very fine particles.


mugearite

A kind of orthoclase-bearing basalt that is made up of olivine, apatite, and opaque oxides.


suevite

(geology) A yellow-grey rock found in impact craters caused by meteorites


norite

norite (countable and uncountable, plural norites)

1901, Joseph Hyde Pratt, The Occurrence and Distribution of Corundum in the United States, Geological Survey Bulletin 180, United States Department of the Interior, page 27,
Where hypersthene prevails the rocks are grouped as norites, being subdivided into normal norite, horneblende-norite, mica-norite, and augite-norite, according to the presence of these different minerals in the rock.

1942, John Calvin Reed, John Van Nostrand Dorr, Nickel Deposits of Bohemia Basin and Vicinity, Yakobi Island, Alaska, Geological Survey Bulletin 931-F, United States Department of the Interior, page 135,
The samples indicate two relatively low grade areas in the norite, one in the northern part of the pit and the other just south of the large dike near the center of the pit.

In contrast to these sedimentogenic zircons (zircons of the initial sedimentogenic-metamorphic phase) new growth of zircons, blastogenic in origin may be present in norites.

1979, Stylianos-Savvas Augustithis, Atlas of the Textural Patterns of Basic and Ultrabasic Rocks and their Genetic Significance, Walter de Gruyter, page 31:

A granular crystalline rock consisting essentially of a triclinic feldspar (such as labradorite) and hypersthene.

norite

crystalline rock consisting of feldspar and hypersthene


tonalite

tonalite (countable and uncountable, plural tonalites)

(geology) An igneous, plutonic rock composed mainly of plagioclase.


psammite

psammite (countable and uncountable, plural psammites)

(mineralogy) Any sandstone, but most often a metamorphosed rock unit with a dominantly sandstone protolith


cinerite

(geology) A sedimentary rock composed mostly of volcanic ash


glacial erratic

glacial erratic (plural glacial erratics)

A rock that differs from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests, usually large and transported there by a glacier.


pisolite

pisolite (countable and uncountable, plural pisolites)

(geology) A sedimentary rock formed from pisoids


argillite

(geology) A fine-grained sedimentary rock, intermediate between shale and slate, sometimes used as a building material


clarain

A form of coal having stratifications parallel to the bedding plane.


granulite

granulite (countable and uncountable, plural granulites)

(geology) A fine-grained metamorphic rock composed chiefly of feldspar, quartz, and garnets.


diorite

diorite (countable and uncountable, plural diorites)

From French diorite,
invented by mineralogist Alexandre Brongniart (1770-1847), derived from Ancient Greek διορίζω (diorízō, “distinguish”), from δι- plus ὁρίζω (horízō, “to limit”).

uder

(petrology) A grey intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of plagioclase feldspar, biotite, hornblende and/or pyroxene.


conglomeratic

The object of this communication was to show that the more or less conglomeratic strata immediately underlying the ordinary Lias limestone on the coast of Glamorganshire, between the River Ogmore and Dunraven Point, do not belong to the Rhætic series, as has been supposed, but to the Lias.

1867, The Geological Magazine Or Monthly Journal of Geology, page 216:

The basement-bed is generally the more conglomeratic, containing often large boulders of Carboniferous Limestone in a creamy limestone-matrix; but beds with no pebbles often lie in places directly on the older rock.

Above these shales we find a light, soft sandstone, sometimes of conglomeratic or breccioid structure, in moderately thick layers.

1916, Johan August Udden, The Thrall Oil Field, volume 2, page 10:

(geology) Of or pertaining to a conglomerate.


lamprophyre

From Ancient Greek λαμπρός (lamprós, “bright”) + φύρω (phúrō, “to mix”).

der

(geology) An uncommon, small-volume ultrapotassic igneous rock primarily occurring as dikes, lopoliths, laccoliths, stocks and small intrusions.


monzonite

en-noun

monzonite (countable and uncountable, plural monzonites)

From Monzoni in the Italian Tyrol, + -ite.

Crumbling silvery stone beneath her hand and in front of her face: monzonite, maybe, or one of the lesser schists.

2015, N. K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season, Orbit (2016), page 277:

(geology) An intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of plagioclase and orthoclase


calcrete

calcrete (countable and uncountable, plural calcretes)

A sedimentary rock, a hardened deposit of calcium carbonate, capable of cementing together with other materials.


basanite

(geology) A basaltic extrusive rock, similar to chert.


hornfels

hornfels (countable and uncountable, plural hornfelses or hornfels)

Borrowed from German Hornfels, literally "horn stone", after its frequent association with glacial "horn peaks" in the Alps.

Any of a series of contact metamorphic rocks that have been baked and indurated by the heat of intrusive igneous masses and rendered massive, hard, splintery, and in some cases exceedingly tough and durable.


anyolite

A metamorphic rock composed of intergrown green zoisite, black tschermakite, and ruby.


syenite

syenite (countable and uncountable, plural syenites)

Borrowed from Latin Syēnītēs, from Syēnē (“Aswan”), because it was anciently quarried there.


greywacke

greywacke (countable and uncountable, plural greywackes)

Endless bleak, rounded hills composed of shales and ribs of tough ‘greywackes’ make up the Southern Uplands – all of such rocks were originally deposited under marine conditions.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 177:

(geology) A hard dark sandstone with poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments in a compact, clay-fine matrix.


tholeiite

/ˈθəʊ.lɪ.ʌɪt/

From German Tholeiit, from Tholei (“a village in western Germany”).

Correctly speaking, Hawaiian basalt is not just basalt, but is a special variety enriched in silica known as tholeiite.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 51n:

(geology) An igneous basaltic rock, formed from magma rich in magnesium and iron.


lumachel

(geology) A grey form of limestone that contains fossil shells, and reflects a fiery play of colours


larvikite

larvikite (countable and uncountable, plural larvikites)

A variety of monzonite with small crystals of feldspar.


ijolite

ijolite (countable and uncountable, plural ijolites)

Derived from the first syllable of the Finnish words Ii-vaara, Iijoki, etc., common as geographical names in Finland (ultimately reflecting Proto-Samic *ijë (“night”)), and Ancient Greek λίθος (líthos, “a stone”).

A rare igneous rock consisting essentially of nepheline and augite.


lutite

(geology, dated) A rock composed of clayey or silty sediment.


gneissoid

en-adj

gneissoid (comparative more gneissoid, superlative most gneissoid)

more gneissoid (comparative)
most gneissoid (superlative)

(geology) Having a structure similar to that of gneiss, or intermediate between that of gneiss and mica or granite


gneissoid

(geology) A metamorphic rock having the composition of a laminated granite


jaspilite

en-noun

jaspilite (countable and uncountable, plural jaspilites)

(mineralogy) A compact siliceous rock resembling jasper.


picrite

picrite (countable and uncountable, plural picrites)

A variety of high-magnesium olivine basalt.


caprock

caprock (countable and uncountable, plural caprocks)

Last month, federal scientists said that the company had fallen far behind schedule because a huge rig hired to drill down about 12,000 feet, or more than two miles, on federal land had not been able to pierce surface formations called caprock.

2009 September 3, James Glanz, “Energy Company Calls Halt to Drilling Project”, in New York Times:

Meanwhile, there were houses going up within gunshot of the caprock.

2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 424:

(geology) A harder or more resistant rock type overlying a weaker or less resistant rock type.


tezontle

Borrowed from Spanish tezontle, from Nahuatl tetzontli, from tetl (“stone”) + tzontli (“head hair”).

A porous, extrusive, igneous, volcanic rock, usually reddish in colour, used extensively in construction in Mexico.


lherzolite

lherzolite (countable and uncountable, plural lherzolites)

/ˈləːzəlʌɪt/

The most important variety is called lherzolite: its list of constituent minerals includes a lot of olivine but also feldspar and pyroxene, and often small quantities of two other minerals: garnet and spinel.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 60:

(mineralogy) A dark-green igneous rock consisting largely of chrysolite, with pyroxene and picotite.


tephrite

tephrite (countable and uncountable, plural tephrites)

(geology) An igneous rock consisting essentially of plagioclase and either leucite or nephelite, or both.


subgraywacke

subgraywacke (countable and uncountable, plural subgraywackes)

(mineralogy) The most common type of sandstone, intermediate in composition between orthoquartzite and graywacke, typically composed of 30% to 65% quartz and chert, less than 15% clay matrix, more than 25% unstable materials such as feldspar grains and rock fragments, and voids or mineral cement exceeding the amount of clay matrix, and being lighter colored and better sorted, and with less matrix, than graywacke.


variolite

variolite (countable and uncountable, plural variolites)

Latin varius (“various”) + -lite: compare French variolite.

(geology) A rock containing centimeter-scale spherical or globular structures (varioles) in a fine-grained matrix.


miascite

miascite (countable and uncountable, plural miascites)

From Miask (“a place in the Ural Mountains”) + -ite.

affix

(mineralogy) A granitoid rock containing feldspar, biotite, elaeolite, and sodalite.


trap rock

A form of igneous rock that tends to form polygonal vertical fractures.


hyaloclastite

en-noun

hyaloclastite (countable and uncountable, plural hyaloclastites)

Explosive cooling and the sedimentation of glassy fragments results in a rock with a characteristic speckly texture known as hyaloclastite.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 45:

(geology) A type of volcanic rock containing glassy clasts, that is, fragments.


micropegmatite

micropegmatite (countable and uncountable, plural micropegmatites)

(mineralogy, dated) A rock showing under the microscope the structure of pegmatite.


ditroite

ditroite (countable and uncountable, plural ditroites)

From Ditró + -ite, named after Ditró, a village in Transylvania (now Ditrău, Romania).

(mineralogy) An igneous rock composed of orthoclase, elaeolite, and sodalite.


melaphyre

melaphyre (countable and uncountable, plural melaphyres)

French, from Ancient Greek, meaning "black porphyry".

(obsolete) Various dark-coloured volcanic igneous rocks rich in augite, similar to and in some definitions including basalt, principally of Paleozoic age


parautochthonous

(geology) Of rock, having a character intermediate between that of autochthonous rock (which is native to its location) and allochthonous rock.

parautoktoninen

which has a character intermediate between that of autochthonous rock and allochthonous rock


serpentinous

en-adj

serpentinous (comparative more serpentinous, superlative most serpentinous)

more serpentinous (comparative)
most serpentinous (superlative)

a rock serpentinous in character


verd antique

From French vert antique (“a kind of marble”), from verd, vert (“green”) + antique (“ancient”). Compare Italian verde antico.

der

(mineralogy) A mottled green serpentine marble.


allochem

(petrology) a grain of rock in a carbonate rock


euphotide

Ancient Greek εὐ- (eu-, “well”) + φῶς (phôs, “light”). So called because of its pleasing combination of white and green.

(mineralogy) A rock occurring in the Alps, consisting of saussurite and smaragdite.


eurite

(mineralogy) A compact feldspathic rock; felsite.


porphyrite

augite porphyrite


ganil

Here [in Pure limes] may be included stalactites , marble , limestone , chalk , zufa , ganil

1799, John Coakley Lettsom, The Naturalist's and Traveller's Companion:

(UK, dialect) A kind of brittle limestone.


harzburgite

en-noun

harzburgite (usually uncountable, plural harzburgites)

The two rutiles occur in veins in harzburgite xenoliths carried in volcanoes of the eastern African Rift: Labait and Pello Hill.

2000 January 14, Roberta L. Rudnick et al., “Rutile-Bearing Refractory Eclogites: Missing Link Between Continents and Depleted Mantle”, in Science, volume 287, number 5451, →DOI, pages 278–281:

An ultramafic igneous rock, a variety of peridotite consisting mostly of olivine and low-calcium pyroxene.


chiastolite slate

chiastolite slate (plural chiastolite slates)

(mineralogy) A rock formed by contact metamorphism of carbonaceous shale, characterized by prominent cleavage or schistosity and the presence of conspicuous chiastolite crystals in a fine-grained groundmass.


metavolcanic

Metavolcanic rock is commonly found in greenstone belts.

(geology) Being or relating to a type of metamorphic rock originally produced by a volcano, either as lava or tephra, then buried and subjected to high pressures and temperatures, causing it to recrystallize.


missourite

missourite (countable and uncountable, plural missourites)

(mineralogy) A leucite-augite rock, resembling ijolite but with leucite in place of nepheline.


siliciclastic

As with siliciclastic turbidites, the maximum thickness of an individual bed is commonly not attained in the neighborhood of the source area, but at some distance downcurrent (Fig. 5.16b); then it decreases distally.

2000, Gerhard Einsele, Sedimentary Basins: Evolution, Facies, and Sediment Budget, page 221:

(geology) Describing clastic rocks that bear quartz or similar silicate minerals


arenite

arenite (countable and uncountable, plural arenites)

Any sedimentary rock with a grain size in the sand range on the Wentworth scale.


rock flour

rock flour (countable and uncountable, plural rock flours)

Fine-grained, silt-sized particles of rock generated by mechanical grinding of bedrock by glacial erosion or artificially.


abyssal rock

(geology) An igneous rock that crystallized at considerable depth in the crust; plutonic rock.


moon rock

moon rock (countable and uncountable, plural moon rocks)

(countable, uncountable) Rock from the surface of the moon, but especially any geological specimen brought back by the Apollo program.


thunderegg

A roughly spherical, nodule-like geological structure, similar to a geode, that is formed within a rhyolitic lava flow.


Plutonic

en-adj

Plutonic (comparative more Plutonic, superlative most Plutonic)

more Plutonic (comparative)
most Plutonic (superlative)

From Ancient Greek Πλούτων (Ploútōn, “Pluto, Greek and Roman god of the underworld”) (from πλοῦτος (ploûtos, “riches, wealth”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *plew- (“to fly; to flow; to run”)) + -ων (-ōn)) + -ic (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). The English word is cognate with Middle French plutonique (modern French plutonique (“of or pertaining to Pluto, the underworld, or the interior of the Earth”)).

cog

These cliffs, I may remark, are basaltic, and therefore plutonic.

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

(by extension, geology, mineralogy) Of or pertaining to rocks formed deep in the Earth's crust, rather than by volcanoes at the surface of the Earth.

plutònic

of or pertaining to rocks formed deep in the Earth's crust


grainstone

en-noun

grainstone (countable and uncountable, plural grainstones)

A kind of calcareous rock that lacks mud and is grain-supported.


wackestone

wackestone (countable and uncountable, plural wackestones)

A calcareous rock consisting of more than 10% grains, supported by a lime mud.


floatstone

floatstone (countable and uncountable, plural floatstones)

A kind of calcareous rock, more than 10% of which is made up of grains larger than two millimetres, and which is matrix-supported.


rudstone

rudstone (countable and uncountable, plural rudstones)

A calcareous rock consisting of coarse limestones supported by grains larger than two millimetres.


lithosome

(geology) A uniform mass of rock that has different lithology to that of the surrounding rock.


impactite

impactite (countable and uncountable, plural impactites)

Furthermore, the probability that the distribution of "lunar impactite" falls over the Earth's surface would exhibit the alinement along 3 great circles, which is characteristic of all known tektite deposits, is vanishingly small.

1944, Popular Astronomy, volume 52, page 195:

Impactite is the term used for all rocks produced or affected by a hypervelocity impact event.

2012, G. R. Osinski, Impact Cratering: Processes and Products:

Any rock created or modified by the impact of a meteorite.


mountain cork

A variety of asbestos with a cork-like texture.


plastiglomerate

plastiglomerate (countable and uncountable, plural plastiglomerates)

Blend of plastic + conglomerate. Coined by Patricia Corcoran and Charles Moore, who discovered the mineral formation containing plastics (synthetic polymer material).

Plastiglomerates are a marker for Anthropocene rocks.

Santos and her team ran chemical tests to find out what kind of plastics are in the rocks called "plastiglomerates" because they are made of a mixture of sedimentary granules and other debris held together by plastic.

[2023 March 16, Sergio Queiroz, “Brazilian researchers find 'terrifying' plastic rocks on remote island”, in Reuters:

(geology) A type of rock with plastic inclusions


rock soap

A kind of clay with a smooth, greasy feel.


autolith

(geology) A rock fragment that has become enveloped in a larger rock of a similar type, during the latter's development and hardening.


chlorastrolite

chlorastrolite (countable and uncountable, plural chlorastrolites)

From Ancient Greek χλωρός (khlōrós, “green”) + ἄστρον (ástron, “star”) (in allusion to its appearance) + λίθος (líthos, “stone”).

(mineralogy) A green or bluish variety of pumpellyite.


greenschist

greenschist (countable and uncountable, plural greenschists)

(petrology) A metamorphic rock formed at low temperature and pressure, often with an abundance of green minerals such as chlorite, serpentine, and epidote.


saprolite

saprolite (countable and uncountable, plural saprolites)

Saprolites form in the lower zones of soil profiles and represent deep weathering of the bedrock surface.


nelsonite

nelsonite (countable and uncountable, plural nelsonites)

(mineralogy) A rock consisting of apatite and ilmenite.


kurkar

kurkar (countable and uncountable, plural kurkars)

A kind of calcareous sandstone, common in Israel.


gypcrete

gypcrete (countable and uncountable, plural gypcretes)

A sedimentary rock, a hardened deposit of gypsum, capable of cementing together with other materials.


microgranite

microgranite (countable and uncountable, plural microgranites)

A type of microcrystalline plutonic rock with the same composition as granite.


leucogabbro

A gabbro that is light in colour due to a high concentration of plagioclase feldspar.


oceanite

A variety of picrite that is chiefly composed of olivine phenocrysts.


granophyre

granophyre (countable and uncountable, plural granophyres)

A subvolcanic rock with angular intergrowths of quartz and alkali feldspar.


snowflake obsidian

snowflake obsidian (countable and uncountable, plural snowflake obsidians)

Obsidian which has radial crystal clusters composed of cristobalite on its surface.


bojite

From Latin Boiī + -ite, coined in 1898 by E. Weinschenk.


metasiltstone

A siltstone that has undergone metamorphism to some degree.


metasandstone

A sandstone that has undergone metamorphism to some degree.


metagreywacke

A greywacke that has undergone metamorphism to some degree.


halleflinta

A type of metamorphic rock, formed from volcanic tuff and rich in quartz and feldspars.


metamudstone

metamudstone (countable and uncountable, plural metamudstones)

A mudstone that has undergone metamorphism to some degree.


microconglomerate

(geology) A sedimentary rock composed of relatively coarse sand grains in a very fine silt or clay matrix


hornblendite

A plutonic, ultramafic igneous rock composed mostly of hornblende.


theralite

theralite (countable and uncountable, plural theralites)

(petrology) calcic foidal gabbro, a kind of plutonic hylocrystalline rock


pseudojasper

pseudojasper (countable and uncountable, plural pseudojaspers)

Now I suspect that the action of granite on this rock, has converted a part of it into this pseudo-jasper.

1841, Edward Hitchcock, Final report on the geology of Massachusetts - Page 553:

The pseudojasper, gold, and brilliant colours dazzled the eye till they all seemed to be swimming round and round the dome like fishes in a glass bowl.

1888, Benito Pérez Galdós, La familia de León Roch - Volume 2, page 86:

(mineralogy, dated) A rock that resembles, but is not, jasper


trondhjemite

trondhjemite (countable and uncountable, plural trondhjemites)

(mineralogy) A leucocratic intrusive igneous rock, a variety of tonalite in which the plagioclase is mostly in the form of oligoclase.


mudrock

mudrock (countable and uncountable, plural mudrocks)

Complex dielectric variations can address neatly the maturity of organic-rich mudrocks.

2015, Rezwanur Rahman, John A. Scales, Manika Prasad, “Complex dielectric properties of organic-rich mudrocks as functions of maturity”, in arXiv:

(geology) Any of various fine-grained siliciclastic sedimentary rocks.


calcsilicate

(geology) Any rock containing calcium silicate minerals


grahamite

From Graham + -ite; named by Henry Wurtz after James Lorimer Graham, who was interested in commercial development of this mineral resource in West Virginia.

A bitumen-impregnated rock found in Cuba, Mexico, and the United States.


whiteschist

From white + schist. Coined in 1973 by German geoscientist Werner Schreyer in his article Whiteschist: A High-Pressure Rock and its Geologic Significance.

A metamorphic rock formed in high-pressure environments, composed principally of talc and kyanite.


metabasalt

The abundant basalt and metabasalt clasts in sandstone and conglomerate of the Jansen Creek Member were most likely derived from the locally metamorphosed basalt in the Metchosin Volcanics that crops out along the southern margin of Vancouver Island

1980, P.D. Snavely, Jr. with A.R. Niem, N.S. MacLeod, J.E. Pearl, and W.W. Rau, “Makah Formation: A Deep-Marginal-Basin Sequence of Late Eocene and Oligocene Age in the Northwestern Olympic Peninsula, Washington”, in Geological Survey Professional Paper, volume 1124, page 24:

An amphibolite produced from a basalt by metamorphism.

metabasaltti

an amphibolite produced from a basalt by metamorphism


chorismite

(geology) A mixed rock whose fabric is of visually uneven textures and which is composed of dissimilar types of materials with varied origins.


pseudometeorite

A rock that is believed to be a meteorite, but is in fact terrestrial in origin.


limburgite

limburgite (countable and uncountable, plural limburgites)

A dark volcanic rock resembling basalt and consisting essentially of olivine and augite with a brownish glassy groundmass.


cornstone

cornstone (countable and uncountable, plural cornstones)

(mineralogy) A kind of marly siliceous rock.


trachyandesite

trachyandesite (countable and uncountable, plural trachyandesites)

(geology) An extrusive igneous rock with a composition between that of trachyte and andesite.


cataclasite

A type of cataclastic rock that is formed by fracturing and comminution during faulting.


cataclasis

(geology) cataclastic rock (a type of metamorphic rock that has been wholly or partly formed by the progressive fracturing and comminution of existing rock)


rhyodacite

rhyodacite (countable and uncountable, plural rhyodacites)

Vent facies on the north and eastern sides of Fish Lake are mostly flows and breccias of andesite and rhyodacite.

2016 February 18, “Three Millennia of Southwestern North American Dustiness and Future Implications”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:

(geology) An extrusive volcanic rock intermediate in composition between dacite and rhyolite