Xenolith (Noun)
Meaning
(geology) a piece of rock of different origin from the igneous rock in which it is embedded.
Classification
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made).
Examples
- The granite pluton contained numerous xenoliths of limestone, indicating that the magma had interacted with the surrounding sedimentary rocks.
- A team of geologists carefully extracted the xenolith from the surrounding basalt, hoping to gain insights into the Earth's mantle.
- Xenoliths of eclogite found in the volcanic rocks provided evidence of the Earth's crust being subducted to great depths.
- The formation of the xenolith was attributed to the ascent of magma through the crust, which had picked up fragments of the surrounding rocks.
- Researchers used the xenoliths found in the ultramafic rocks to reconstruct the thermal and chemical history of the Earth's mantle.