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basalt
[ buh-sawlt, bas-awlt, bey-sawlt ]
noun
- the dark, dense igneous rock of a lava flow or minor intrusion, composed essentially of labradorite and pyroxene and often displaying a columnar structure.
basalt
/ ˈbæsɔːlt /
noun
- a fine-grained dark basic igneous rock consisting of plagioclase feldspar, a pyroxene, and olivine: the most common volcanic rock and usually extrusive See flood basalt
- a form of black unglazed pottery resembling basalt
basalt
/ bə-sôlt′,bā′sôlt′ /
- A dark, fine-grained, igneous rock consisting mostly of plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene, and sometimes olivine. Basalt makes up most of the ocean floor and is the most common type of lava. It sometimes cools into characteristic hexagonal columns, as in the Giant's Causeway in Anterim, Northern Island. It is the fine-grained equivalent of gabbro.
basalt
- A hard, dense igneous rock that makes up much of the material in tectonic plates . The part of the Earth 's crust beneath the oceans consists mainly of basalt whereas continental crust consists mainly of less dense rocks, such as granite . ( See plate tectonics .)
Derived Forms
- baˈsaltic, adjective
Other Words From
- ba·saltic ba·sal·tine [b, uh, -, sawl, -tin, -tahyn], adjective
- subba·saltic adjective
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of basalt1
Compare Meanings
How does basalt compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Example Sentences
Samples from the Moon, like this lunar basalt, are a complex mix of many minerals, and only some can record signals of past magnetic fields.
In another similarity to Mars, the eruption involves basalt, a magma with a honeylike viscosity.
Beneath the basalt was a dense oceanic rock known as gabbro.
The basalt there—a kind of volcanic rock—is famous for being the oldest on Earth, yielding up evidence for the earliest life on our planet, early plate tectonics, and now, it appears, an even more ancient era.
In summer, hop the seasonal shuttle from the ski town of Mammoth Lakes to visit Devils Postpile National Monument and its massive stack of perfectly geometric basalt columns, a dazzling reminder of the area’s ancient volcanic history.
Somewhere in the basalt hills a lion roared, the sound carrying through the night until another responded.
Here there are many craters and much basalt, or even lava; also hot springs.
The whole is built of basalt with yellow marble columns, and yellow marble bands here and there.
They had also said something about pot holes like shafts in the basalt.
Then she rose up and passing amongst them as a friend amongst friends came towards the caves in the basalt cliffs.
There was no getting round that drop, it was a basalt step that circled the whole Lizard Point on its seaward side.
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