silicates

1. The main minerals found in many rocks. Silicates are composed of atoms of silicon, oxygen, and elements such as potassium, sodium, or calcium, under great heat and pressure. Silicates make up about one-quarter of the crust of the Earth.

Mica and quartz are silicates.

Example Sentences

"On this basis, we were able to calculate the quantities of CO2 released by weathering or from carbonates at depths, and the quantities of CO2 bound by weathered silicates," explains Erlanger.

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The voids correspond to the water vapor released from the Ryugu's hydrous silicates and subsequently captured in the melt splashes.

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Silicates are exceptionally common — all the rocky bodies in the solar system are made from them, and silicates have previously been detected in the atmospheres of hot Jupiter exoplanets before.

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They believe it’s brimming with iron, nickel and other metals, and quite possibly silicates, with a dull, predominantly gray surface likely covered with fine metal grains from cosmic impacts.

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"We've identified silicates, but a better understanding of which grain sizes and shapes match specific types of clouds is going to take a lot of additional work," Miles said.

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