felsite

American  

[fel-sahyt] / ˈfɛl saɪt /

noun

1. a dense, fine-grained, igneous rock consisting typically of feldspar and quartz, both of which may appear as phenocrysts.

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felsite British  

/ ˈfɛlsaɪt /

noun

1. any fine-grained igneous rock consisting essentially of quartz and feldspar

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felsite Scientific  

/ fĕl′sīt′ /

1. A fine-grained, light-colored igneous rock, consisting mainly of feldspar and quartz.

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Other Word Forms

• felsitic
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of felsite

First recorded in 1785–95; fels(par) + -ite ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

felsite

Cambrian Period.—In the Pass of Llanberis, along the banks of Llyn Padarn, masses of quartz-porphyry, felsite and agglomerate, or breccia, indicate volcanic action during this stage.

From Volcanoes: Past and Present by Edward Hull

But felsite or microfelsite is still the generally accepted designation for that very fine-grained, almost crypto-crystalline substance which forms the ground-mass of so many rhyolites, dacites and porphyries.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 2 "Fairbanks, Erastus" to "Fens" by Various

These rocks approach towards true granites in one direction, and through quartz-porphyry and felsite to rhyolite in another—probably depending upon the conditions of cooling and consolidation.

From Volcanoes: Past and Present by Edward Hull

Felspar in Colorado and felsite magnesian slate in Newfoundland carry gold.

From The Romance of Industry and Invention by Robert Cochrane

The building material here is a close-grained felsite, and huge fragments of it have been used in the construction of the parapets.

From Unknown Mexico, Volume 1 (of 2) A Record of Five Years' Exploration Among the Tribes of the Western Sierra Madre; In the Tierra Caliente of Tepic and Jalisco; and Among the Tarascos of Michoacan by Carl Lumholtz

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