McGraw-Hill dictionary of geology and mineralogy

415 Pages·2003·3.893 MB·English

by  McGraw-Hill Education

McGraw-Hill
Dictionary of
Geology and
Mineralogy
Second
Edition
McGraw-Hill
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DICTIONARYOFSCIENTIFICANDTECHNICALTERMS,SixthEdition,copyright
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McGRAW-HILL DICTIONARY OF GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY, Second Edi-
tion,copyright(cid:1)2003byTheMcGraw-HillCompanies,Inc.Allrightsreserved.
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
McGraw-Hilldictionaryofgeologyandmineralogy—2nd.ed.
p. cm.
“AlltextinthisdictionarywaspublishedpreviouslyintheMcGraw-Hill
dictionaryofscientificandtechnicalterms,sixthedition,
—T.p.verso.
ISBN0-07-141044-9(alk.paper)
1. Geology—Dictionaries. 2. Mineralogy—Dictionaries. I. Title: Dic-
tionaryofgeologyandmineralogy. II. McGraw-Hilldictionaryofscientific
andtechnicalterms.6thed.
QE5.M3654 2003
550(cid:2).3—dc21 2002033173
Staff
MarkD.Licker,Publisher—Science
ElizabethGeller,ManagingEditor
JonathanWeil,SeniorStaffEditor
DavidBlumel,StaffEditor
AlyssaRappaport,StaffEditor
CharlesWagner,DigitalContentManager
ReneeTaylor,EditorialAssistant
RogerKasunic,VicePresident—Editing,Design,andProduction
JoeFaulk,EditingManager
FrankKotowski,Jr.,SeniorEditingSupervisor
RonLane,ArtDirector
ThomasG.Kowalczyk,ProductionManager
PamelaA.Pelton,SeniorProductionSupervisor
HenryF.Beechhold,PronunciationEditor
ProfessorEmeritusofEnglish
FormerChairman,LinguisticsProgram
TheCollegeofNewJersey
Trenton,NewJersey
vi
How to Use the Dictionary
ALPHABETIZATION. The terms in the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Geology and
Mineralogy, Second Edition, are alphabetized on a letter-by-letter basis; word
spacing, hyphen, comma, solidus, and apostrophe in a term are ignored in
thesequencing.Forexample,anorderingoftermswouldbe:
abnormalfold acre-yield
a-bplane Agassizorogeny
ACFdiagram AgeofFishes
FORMAT. Thebasicformatforadefiningentryprovidestheterminboldface,
thefieldissmallcapitals,andthesingledefinitioninlightface:
term[FIELD] Definition.
A field may be followed by multiple definitions, each introduced by a bold-
facenumber:
term[FIELD] 1.Definition.2.Definition.3.Definition.
Asimplecross-referenceentryappearsas:
term Seeanotherterm.
Acrossreferencemayalsoappearincombinationwithdefinitions:
term[FIELD] 1.Definition. 2.Seeanotherterm.
CROSS REFERENCING. A cross-reference entry directs the user to the
definingentry.Forexample,theuserlookingup“abyssal”finds:
abyssal Seeplutonic.
The user then turns to the “P” terms for the definition. Cross references are
alsomadefromvariantspellings,acronyms,abbreviations,andsymbols.
aenigmatite Seeenigmatite.
aggradation Seeaccretion.
barkhan Seebarchan.
ALSOKNOWNAS...,etc.Adefinitionmayconcludewithamentionofa
synonymoftheterm,avariantspelling,anabbreviationfortheterm,orother
such information, introduced by “Also known as ...,” “Also spelled ...,”
“Abbreviated ...,” “Symbolized ...,” “Derived from ....” When a term has
vii
morethanonedefinition,thepositioningofanyofthesephrasesconveysthe
extentofapplicability.Forexample:
term [FIELD] 1. Definition. Also known as synonym. 2. Definition.
SymbolizedT.
Intheabovearrangement,“Alsoknownas...”appliesonlytothefirstdefini-
tion;“Symbolized...”appliesonlytotheseconddefinition.
term[FIELD] Alsoknownassynonym. 1.Definition. 2.Definition.
Intheabovearrangement,“Alsoknownas...”appliestobothdefinitions.
MINERALFORMULAS. Mineraldefinitionsmayincludeaformulaindicat-
ingthecomposition.
viii
Fields and Their Scope
[GEOCHEM] geochemistry—Thefieldthatencompassestheinvestigationof
thechemicalcompositionoftheearth,otherplanets,andthesolarsystemand
universeasawhole,aswellasthechemicalprocessesthatoccurwithinthem.
[GEOL] geology—The study or science of earth, its history, and its life as
recordedintherocks;includesthestudyofthegeologicfeaturesofanarea,
such as the geometry of rock formations, weathering and erosion, and
sedimentation.
[GEOPHYS] geophysics—Thebranchofgeologyinwhichtheprinciplesand
practicesofphysicsareusedtostudytheearthanditsenvironment,thatis,
earth,air,and(byextension)space.
[MINERAL] mineralogy—The study of naturally occurring inorganic sub-
stances,calledminerals,whetherofterrestrialorextraterrestrialorigin.
[PALEOBOT] paleobotany—Thestudyoffossilplantsandvegetationofthe
geologicpast.
[PALEON] paleontology—Thestudyoflifeinthegeologicpastasrecorded
byfossilremains.
[PETR] petrology—Thebranchofgeologydealingwiththeorigin,occurrence,
structure,andhistoryofrocks,especiallyigneousandmetamorphicrocks.
ix
Pronunciation Key
Vowels Consonants
a asinbat,that b asinbib,dribble
a¯ asinbait,crate ch asincharge,stretch
a¨ asinbother,father d asindog,bad
e asinbet,net f asinfix,safe
e¯ asinbeet,treat g asingood,signal
i asinbit,skit h asinhand,behind
ı¯ asinbite,light j asinjoint,digit
o¯ asinboat,note k asincast,brick
o˙ asinbought,taut k asinBach(usedrarely)
u˙ asinbook,pull l asinloud,bell
u¨ asinboot,pool m asinmild,summer
ə asinbut,sofa n asinnew,dent
au˙ asincrowd,power n indicatesnasalizationofpreced-
o˙i asinboil,spoil ingvowel
yə asinformula,spectacular ŋ asinring,single
yu¨ asinfuel,mule p asinpier,slip
r asinred,scar
Semivowels/Semiconsonants s asinsign,post
w asinwind,twin sh asinsugar,shoe
y asinyet,onion t asintimid,cat
th asinthin,breath
Stress(Accent) th asinthen,breathe
(cid:3) precedessyllablewithprimary v asinveil,weave
stress z asinzoo,cruise
zh asinbeige,treasure
(cid:4) precedessyllablewithsecondary
stress Syllabication
(cid:1) Indicatessyllableboundary
¦ precedessyllablewithvariable
whenfollowingsyllableis
orindeterminateprimary/
unstressed
secondarystress
x
Preface
TheMcGraw-HillDictionaryofGeologyandMineralogyprovidesacompendiumof
morethan9000termsthatarecentraltoabroadrangeofgeologicalsciences
andrelatedfields.ThecoverageinthisSecondEditionisfocusedontheareas
ofgeochemistry,geology,geophysics,mineralogy,paleobotany,paleontology,
andpetrology,withnewtermsaddedandothersrevisedasnecessary.
Geologydealswiththesolidearthandtheprocessesthatformedandmodified
it as it evolved. Related disciplines include the study of the physics of the
earth(geophysics);earthchemistry,composition,andchemicalchanges(geo-
chemistry); the composition, properties, and structure of minerals (mineral-
ogy);thedescription,classification,origin,andevolutionofrocks(petrology);
andthestudyofancientlife(paleontology).
Allof thedefinitionsare drawnfromthe McGraw-HillDictionaryof Scientificand
TechnicalTerms,SixthEdition(2003).Eachdefinitionisclassifiedaccordingto
the field with which it is primarily associated; if it is used in more than one
area;itisidentifiedbythegenerallabel[GEOLOGY].Thepronunciationofeach
term is provided along with synonyms, acronyms, and abbreviations where
appropriate. A guide to the use of the Dictionary appears on pages vii-viii,
explaining the alphabetical organization of terms, the format of the book,
crossreferencing,andhowsynonyms,variantspellings,abbreviations,mineral
formulas,andsimilarinformationarehandled.ThePronunciationKeyispro-
videdonpagex.TheAppendixprovidesconversiontablesforcommonlyused
scientificunitsaswellasrevisedgeologictimescale,periodictable,historical
information,andusefullistingsofgeologicalandmineralogicaldata.
Itistheeditors’hopethattheSecondEditionoftheMcGraw-HillDictionaryof
Geology and Mineralogy will serve the needs of scientists, engineers, students,
teachers, librarians, and writers for high-quality information, and that it will
contributetoscientificliteracyandcommunication.
MarkD.Licker
Publisher
v
Contents
Preface ................................................................................................................. v
Staff ...................................................................................................................... vi
HowtoUsetheDictionary ........................................................................... vii
FieldsandTheirScope .................................................................................. ix
PronunciationKey ............................................................................................ x
Dictionary .................................................................................................... 1-404
Appendix .................................................................................................. 405-421
EquivalentsofcommonlyusedunitsfortheU.S.
CustomarySystemandthemetricsystem .................................... 407
ConversionfactorsfortheU.S.CustomarySystem,
metricsystem,andInternationalSystem ...................................... 408
Periodictable ......................................................................................... 412
Principalregionsofastandardearthmodel ..................................... 413
Physicalpropertiesofsomecommonrocks ...................................... 413
Approximateconcentrationoforeelementsinearth’s
crustandinores ............................................................................... 414
Elementalcompositionofearth’scrustbasedon
igneousandsedimentaryrock ........................................................ 414
Somehistoricalvolcaniceruptions ..................................................... 415
Compositionsofimportantrocktypesintheearth’s
crustandtheaveragecontinentalcrust ........................................ 416
Dentalformulasofsomemammals ................................................... 417
Geologiccolumnandscaleoftime .................................................... 418
Typesofvolcanicstructure................................................................... 419
Mohsscale ............................................................................................. 419
Hardness,specificgravity,andrefractiveindices
ofgemmaterials ............................................................................... 420