#xenocryst — Public Fediverse posts

X is for Xenolith (and Xenocryst)

“A xenolith ("foreign rock") is a rock fragment (country rock) that becomes enveloped in a larger rock during the latter's development and solidification. In geology, the term xenolith is almost exclusively used to describe inclusions in igneous rock entrained during magma ascent, emplacement and eruption. Xenoliths may be engulfed along the margins of a magma chamber, torn loose from the walls of an erupting lava conduit or explosive diatreme or picked up along the base of a flowing body of lava on the Earth's surface. A xenocryst is an individual foreign crystal included within an igneous body. Examples of xenocrysts are quartz crystals in a silica-deficient lava and diamonds within kimberlite diatremes.”
~ From Wikipedia

See more: https://blogs.agu.org/georneys/2011/05/18/geology-word-of-the-week-x-is-for-xenolith/

#Xenolith #Xenocryst #geology #Science