greenschist

[green-shist]

noun

Petrology.

1. schist colored green by an abundance of chlorite, epidote, or actinolite.

greenschist

1. A green, schistose metamorphic rock that gets its color from the presence of chlorite, epidote, or actinolite. Greenschist forms under conditions of low temperature and low pressure.

Word History and Origins

Origin of greenschist¹

green + schist

Example Sentences

As thousands of years of loose sediment dumped by the Colorado River get pushed deeper underground, where there’s more pressure and heat, the material is getting cooked and transformed into sandstone or greenschist rock, which produces carbon dioxide, Hudnut said.

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