What does basalt mean?

Definitions for basalt
bəˈsɔlt, ˈbæs ɔlt, ˈbeɪ sɔltbasalt

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word basalt.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. basaltnoun

    the commonest type of solidified lava; a dense dark grey fine-grained igneous rock that is composed chiefly of plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene

Wiktionary

  1. basaltnoun

    A hard rock of varied mineral content; volcanic in origin, it makes up much of the Earth's oceanic crust.

  2. basaltnoun

    A type of unglazed pottery.

Wikipedia

  1. Basalt

    Basalt (UK: ; US: ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of all volcanic rock on Earth is basalt. Rapid-cooling, fine-grained basalt is chemically equivalent to slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro. The eruption of basalt lava is observed by geologists at about 20 volcanoes per year. Basalt is also an important rock type on other planetary bodies in the Solar System. For example, the bulk of the plains of Venus, which cover ~80% of the surface, are basaltic; the lunar maria are plains of flood-basaltic lava flows; and basalt is a common rock on the surface of Mars. Molten basalt lava has a low viscosity due to its relatively low silica content (between 45% and 52%), resulting in rapidly moving lava flows that can spread over great areas before cooling and solidifying. Flood basalts are thick sequences of many such flows that can cover hundreds of thousands of square kilometres and constitute the most voluminous of all volcanic formations. Basaltic magmas within Earth are thought to originate from the upper mantle. The chemistry of basalts thus provides clues to processes deep in Earth's interior.

ChatGPT

  1. basalt

    Basalt is a common type of igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of basaltic lava exposed at or very near the surface of a planet or moon. It is typically dark grey or black, often with a fine-grained or glassy appearance, and is rich in iron and magnesium. Basalt is one of the most common rocks in the earth's crust and also occurs on the moon and other celestial bodies.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Basaltnoun

    a rock of igneous origin, consisting of augite and triclinic feldspar, with grains of magnetic or titanic iron, and also bottle-green particles of olivine frequently disseminated

  2. Basaltnoun

    an imitation, in pottery, of natural basalt; a kind of black porcelain

Wikidata

  1. Basalt

    Basalt is a common extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of basaltic lava exposed at or very near the surface of a planet or moon. By definition, basalt is an aphanitic igneous rock with less than 20% quartz and less than 10% feldspathoid by volume, and where at least 65% of the feldspar is in the form of plagioclase. Basalt is usually grey to black in colour, but rapidly weathers to brown or rust-red due to oxidation of its mafic minerals into rust. It almost always has a fine-grained mineral texture due to the molten rock cooling too quickly for large mineral crystals to grow, although it can sometimes be porphyritic, containing the larger crystals formed prior to the extrusion that brought the lava to the surface, embedded in a finer-grained matrix. Basalt with a vesicular or frothy texture is called scoria, and forms when dissolved gases are forced out of solution and form vesicles as the lava decompresses as it reaches the surface. On Earth, most basalt magmas have formed by decompression melting of the mantle. Basalt commonly erupts on Io, the third largest moon of Jupiter, and has also formed on Earth's Moon, Mars, Venus, and the asteroid Vesta. Source rocks for the partial melts probably include both peridotite and pyroxenite. The crustal portions of oceanic tectonic plates are composed predominantly of basalt, produced from upwelling mantle below ocean ridges.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Basalt

    bas-awlt′, n. a hard, dark-coloured rock of igneous origin.—adj. Basalt′ic. [L. basaltes, an African word.]

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of basalt in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of basalt in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of basalt in a Sentence

  1. Ronit Lupu:

    This discovery represents a highly significant addition to our research of the city and the vicinity. Apart from the pottery, the fascinating flint finds attest to the livelihood of the local population in prehistoric times: Small sickle blades for harvesting cereal crops, chisels and polished axes for building, borers and awls, and even a bead made of carnelian (a gemstone), indicating that jewelry was either made or imported, the grinding tools, mortars and pestles, like the basalt bowl, attest to technological skills as well as to the kinds of crafts practiced in the local community.

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Translations for basalt

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"basalt." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/basalt>.

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