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evaporite

[ih-vap-uh-rahyt]
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noun Geology.
  1. any sedimentary rock, as gypsum or rock salt, formed by precipitation from evaporating seawater.
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Origin of evaporite

First recorded in 1920–25; evapor(ation) + -ite1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for evaporite

Historical Examples

  • Borates are mined from evaporite deposits at Searles Lake, California, and other desert locations.

    Deserts

    A. S. Walker

British Dictionary definitions for evaporite

evaporite

noun
  1. any sedimentary rock, such as rock salt, gypsum, or anhydrite, formed by evaporation of former seas or salt-water lakes
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Word Origin

C20: evaporation + -ite 1
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
evaporite in Science

evaporite

[ĭ-văp′ə-rīt′]
  1. A sedimentary rock that consists of one or more minerals formed as precipitates from the evaporation of a saline solution, such as saltwater. Usually, the first evaporite to form from saltwater is calcium, followed by gypsum and then halite.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.