xenolith

xenolith
—xenolithic, adj.
/zen"l ith/, n. Petrog.
a rock fragment foreign to the igneous rock in which it is embedded. Also called inclusion.
[1900-05; XENO- + -LITH]

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      rock fragment within an intrusive igneous body that is unrelated to the igneous body itself. Xenoliths, which represent pieces of older rock incorporated into the magma while it was still fluid, may be located near their original positions of detachment or may have settled deep into the intrusion, if their density is greater. Xenoliths can be contrasted with autoliths, or cognate xenoliths, which are pieces of older rock within the intrusion that are genetically related to the intrusion itself. The general term for all such incorporated bodies is inclusions. Xenoliths are usually reconstituted through the processes of contact metamorphism, in which heat and fluids cause mineralogic and chemical changes in the parent rock of the xenolith; a study of these changes can give information on the temperature and composition of the magmatic body.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • xenolith — (n.) 1894, from XENO (Cf. xeno ) foreign, strange + lith (see LITH (Cf. lith )) …   Etymology dictionary

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  • Xenolith — This article concerns the geologic term, for other uses see: Xenolith (disambiguation) A xenolith (Greek: foreign rock ) is a rock fragment which becomes enveloped in a larger rock during the latter s development and hardening. In geology, the… …   Wikipedia

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  • xenolith — noun Date: 1894 a fragment of a rock included in another rock • xenolithic adjective …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • xenolith — noun any piece of rock having a different origin to that of the igneous rock in which it is found …   Wiktionary

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  • Xenolith — Xe|no|lith 〈m.; Gen.: (e)s od. en, Pl.: e od. en; Geol.〉 in magmatischem Gestein eingeschlossenes Fremdgestein [Etym.: <Xeno… + …lith] …   Lexikalische Deutsches Wörterbuch

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