granulite

American  

[gran-yuh-lahyt] / ˈgræn jəˌlaɪt /

noun

1. a metamorphic rock composed of granular minerals of uniform size, as quartz, feldspar, or pyroxene, and showing a definite banding.

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granulite British  

/ ˌɡrænjʊˈlɪtɪk, ˈɡrænjʊˌlaɪt /

noun

1. a granular foliated metamorphic rock in which the minerals form a mosaic of equal-sized granules

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granulite Scientific  

/ grăn′yə-līt′ /

1. A fine-grained metamorphic rock consisting of similarly sized, interlocking minerals. Unlike most metamorphic rocks, granulites do not exhibit foliation or textural or mineralogical layering.

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Other Word Forms

• granulitic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of granulite

First recorded in 1840–50; granule + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

The lowest pressure conditions produce hornfels facies, while higher pressure creates greenschist, amphibolite, or granulite facies.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017

Alderney consists mainly of hornblende granite and granulite, which are covered on the east by two areas of sandstone which may be of Cambrian age.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 7 "Cerargyrite" to "Charing Cross" by Various

Graphite occurs mainly in the older crystalline rocks—gneiss, granulite, schist and crystalline limestone—and also sometimes in granite: it is found as isolated scales embedded in these rocks, or as large irregular masses or filling veins.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various

The great serpentine belt crosses both properties, and is bounded along its northern margin by quartzose granulite, separated from the serpentine by a narrow belt of soapstone.

From Asbestos Its production and use, with some account of the asbestos mines of Canada by Jones, Robert H.

The gneiss is uniformly of a species not often met with, studded with garnets, and between its strata are inserted single beds of hornblende-gneiss and splinters of pure hornblende, as also granulite-gneiss and pure granulite.

From Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume I (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the Austrian Navy. by Scherzer, Karl Ritter von