olivine
Mineralogy. any of a group of magnesium iron silicates, (Mg,Fe)2SiO4, occurring in olive-green to gray-green masses as an important constituent of basic igneous rocks.
Origin of olivine
1- Also called chrysolite.
Other words from olivine
- ol·i·vin·ic [ol-uh-vin-ik], /ˌɒl əˈvɪn ɪk/, ol·i·vin·it·ic [ol-uh-vi-nit-ik], /ˌɒl ə vɪˈnɪt ɪk/, adjective
Words Nearby olivine
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use olivine in a sentence
Now, experiments suggest that those same hellish conditions might also sometimes transform olivine — the primary mineral in Earth’s mantle — into the mineral wadsleyite.
In 2004, astronomers used NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope to observe brown dwarfs and spotted spectral signatures of sand — more specifically, grains of silicate minerals such as quartz and olivine.
Maria-Elena Vorrath, a researcher at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, said in an email that the study shows the olivine process doesn’t work the way we assumed.
Why using the oceans to suck up CO2 might not be as easy as hoped | James Temple | March 30, 2022 | MIT Technology ReviewIn theory, adding ground up olivine should increase the seawater’s alkalinity, which helps convert carbon in the water into a stable form and allows the oceans to take up more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Why using the oceans to suck up CO2 might not be as easy as hoped | James Temple | March 30, 2022 | MIT Technology ReviewHe also points to one of Earth’s most common minerals, olivine, as an example.
How minerals and rocks reflect rainbows, glow in the dark, and otherwise blow your mind | Lauren Leffer | June 28, 2021 | Popular-Science
The emerald rainstorm contains a bright green mineral of a class called olivine—also known as peridot to us Earth-dwellers.
Space Bling: From Diamond Planets to Crystal Oceans to Precious Moon Jewels | Alexa Valiente, Jaewon Kang | October 13, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTIn the more basic phases anhedrons of augite and of olivine appear, and magnetite grains are usually present.
Mount Rainier | Variousolivine occurs in certain of the Rainier lavas, in stout prisms somewhat rounded and often with reddened borders.
Mount Rainier | VariousIt also surrounds olivine in this same rock, which is a hypersthene-andesite, the hornblende and olivine being only accessory.
Mount Rainier | VariousHypersthene is not the prevailing pyroxene, and olivine is usually present, often in such abundance as to make the rock a basalt.
Mount Rainier | VariousPic′rīte, one of the peridotites or olivine-rocks; Picrotox′ine, a bitter poisonous principle in the seeds of Cocculus indicus.
British Dictionary definitions for olivine
/ (ˈɒlɪˌviːn, ˌɒlɪˈviːn) /
an olive-green mineral of the olivine group, found in igneous and metamorphic rocks. The clear-green variety (peridot) is used as a gemstone. Composition: magnesium iron silicate. Formula: (MgFe) 2 SiO 4 . Crystal structure: orthorhombic: Also called: chrysolite
any mineral in the group having the general formula (Mg,Fe,Mn,Ca) 2 SiO 4
Origin of olivine
1Collins 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 olivine
[ ŏl′ə-vēn′ ]
An olive-green to brownish-green orthorhombic mineral. Olivine is a common mineral in the igneous rocks, such as basalt and gabbro, that make up most of the Earth's crust beneath the oceans. Chemical formula: (Mg,Fe)2SiO4. ♦ Olivine in which the mafic component consists entirely of magnesium is called forsterite. Chemical formula: Mg2SiO4.♦ Olivine in which the mafic component consists entirely of iron is called fayalite. Chemical formula: Fe2SiO4.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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