flowstone

[floh-stohn]

noun

Petrology.

1. a layered deposit of calcium carbonate, CaCO 3 , left by thin sheets of flowing water, as in a cave.

Word History and Origins

Origin of flowstone¹

1920–25, Amer.; flow + stone

Example Sentences

The researchers, including experts from Johannesburg and France, examined radioactive decay in rocks buried at the same time as the fossils, whereas earlier estimates were based on calcite flowstone deposits.

From Washington Post

She also had flowstone and a rare kind of red obsidian, which originated outside of the UK.

From BBC

This spring Reyes and others analyzed Canadian Arctic and sub-Arctic cave deposits, such as flowstones and stalagmites, and determined that Arctic permafrost soils thawed quite a bit during some ancient warm periods.

From Scientific American

The walls of the cavern, wreathed in flowstone, glittered in brown and gray.

From New York Times

Some of these have bubbled together into flowstones, alluringly smooth formations that resemble miniaturized caramel mountain ranges.

From Washington Post