Crossword clues for pyroxene
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Pyroxene \Pyr"ox*ene\, n. [F. pyrox[`e]ne, from Gr. ? fire + ? a stranger; -- so called because it was supposed to the be a stranger, or of rare occurrence, in igneous rocks,] (Min.) A common mineral occurring in monoclinic crystals, with a prismatic angle of nearly 90[deg], and also in massive forms which are often laminated. It varies in color from white to dark green and black, and includes many varieties differing in color and composition, as diopside, malacolite, salite, coccolite, augite, etc. They are all silicates of lime and magnesia with sometimes alumina and iron. Pyroxene is an essential constituent of many rocks, especially basic igneous rocks, as basalt, gabbro, etc.
Note: The pyroxene group contains pyroxene proper, also the related orthorhombic species, enstatite, bronzite, hypersthene, and various monoclinic and triclinic species, as rhodonite, etc.
Wiktionary
n. (context mineralogy English) Any of a group of crystalline minerals containing silicates of iron, magnesium and calcium.
WordNet
n. any of a group of crystalline silicate mineral common in igneous and metamorphic rocks
Wikipedia
The pyroxenes (commonly abbreviated to Px) are a group of important rock-forming inosilicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. They share a common structure consisting of single chains of silica tetrahedra and they crystallize in the monoclinic and orthorhombic systems. Pyroxenes have the general formula XY(Si,Al)O (where X represents calcium, sodium, iron and magnesium and more rarely zinc, manganese and lithium and Y represents ions of smaller size, such as chromium, aluminium, iron, magnesium, cobalt, manganese, scandium, titanium, vanadium and even iron). Although aluminium substitutes extensively for silicon in silicates such as feldspars and amphiboles, the substitution occurs only to a limited extent in most pyroxenes.
The name pyroxene comes from the Greek words for fire (πυρ) and stranger (ξένος). Pyroxenes were named this way because of their presence in volcanic lavas, where they are sometimes seen as crystals embedded in volcanic glass; it was assumed they were impurities in the glass, hence the name "fire strangers". However, they are simply early-forming minerals that crystallized before the lava erupted.
The upper mantle of Earth is composed mainly of olivine and pyroxene. A piece of the mantle is shown at right (orthopyroxene is black, diopside (containing chromium) is bright green, and olivine is yellow-green) and is dominated by olivine, typical for common peridotite. Pyroxene and feldspar are the major minerals in basalt and gabbro.
Usage examples of "pyroxene".
I discovered that the exoskeleton was an organic-inorganic matrix composed of carbon compounds and silicate minerals, primarily olivine, pyroxene, and magnetite, substances commonly found in meteorites.
Possum was composed primarily of crystals: plagioclase, pyroxene, ilmenite, olivine, and other minerals.
In fact, locked up in Cruithne there were also troilite, olivine, pyroxene, and feldspar—minerals that could also serve as sources of ferrous metals when the nickel-iron was exhausted, even if their extraction was a little more complex.
In fact, locked up in Cruithne there were also troilite, olivine, pyroxene, and feldspar -- minerals that could also serve as sources of ferrous metals when the nickel-iron was exhausted, even if their extraction was a little more complex.