silicates

Cultural  

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.

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Mica and quartz are silicates.

Example Sentences

The dust matched familiar types of stardust, including silicates and alumina.

From Science Daily

"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.

From Science Daily

"The chemical compositions of the melt splashes suggest that Ryugu's hydrous silicates mixed with cometary dust."

From Science Daily

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.

From Scientific American

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.

From Washington Times