calcite
one of the commonest minerals, calcium carbonate, CaCO3, found in a great variety of crystalline forms: a major constituent of limestone, marble, and chalk; calc-spar.
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Origin of calcite
1Other words from calcite
- cal·cit·ic [kal-sit-ik], /kælˈsɪt ɪk/, adjective
Words Nearby calcite
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use calcite in a sentence
Beneath a starfish’s skin lies a skeleton made of pebbly growths, called ossicles, which mostly consist of the mineral calcite.
A diamondlike structure gives some starfish skeletons their strength | Carolyn Wilke | February 10, 2022 | Science NewsThese carbon-bearing minerals, which are mostly “carbonates” like calcite and magnesite, can store the carbon dioxide for thousands of years.
Excavated calcite crystals hadn’t been modified in any way and had no apparent practical use, raising the possibility that these items held ritual or symbolic significance, Wilkins suspects.
Stone Age culture bloomed inland, not just along Africa’s coasts | Bruce Bower | March 31, 2021 | Science NewsAs water flows through a limestone cave, it leaves behind small deposits of minerals, which gradually build up into layers of calcite, like the one atop the pig painting.
This painted pig is the world’s oldest figurative art | Kiona N. Smith | January 15, 2021 | Ars TechnicaFurther chemical, X-ray and microscopic examinations revealed a thin layer of calcite containing high levels of magnesium.
Mineral body armor helps some leaf-cutting ants win fights with bigger kin | Christie Wilcox | November 24, 2020 | Science News
Her bones stick up from the ground, and water has sealed them with a sparkling calcite coating.
The Cave Where Mayans Sacrificed Humans Is Open for Visitors | Nina Strochlic | August 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAragonite, a mineral formed of calcium carbonate crystallized in the rhombic system; specific gravity 2.94 (compare calcite).
Sandstone mortar, eye in green glaze , the other objects as in N. 1, but with the addition of tablets of calcite and lead.
El Kab | J.E. QuibellIn the first class 74 are included sulphur and ammonium nitrate; monotropy is exhibited by aragonite and calcite.
The emerald occurs in nests of calcite in a black bituminous limestone containing ammonites of Lower Cretaceous age.
These cave formations are all composed of the mineral calcite, which forms all lime rock.
Florida Caverns State Park | Robert O. Vernon
British Dictionary definitions for calcite
/ (ˈkælsaɪt) /
a colourless or white mineral (occasionally tinged with impurities), found in sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, in veins, in limestone, and in stalagmites and stalactites. It is used in the manufacture of cement, plaster, paint, glass, and fertilizer. Composition: calcium carbonate. Formula: CaCO 3 . Crystal structure: hexagonal (rhombohedral)
Derived forms of calcite
- calcitic (kælˈsɪtɪk), adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for calcite
[ kăl′sīt′ ]
A usually white, clear, pale-yellow or blue orthorhombic mineral. Calcite occurs in many different forms and is the main component of chalk, limestone, and marble. It is a polymorph of aragonite. Chemical formula: CaCO3.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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