TERMIUM Plus®

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ULTRA-BASIC ROCK [1 record]

Record 1 2011-01-13

English

Subject field(s)
  • Petrography
  • Geochemistry
DEF

[An] igneous rock consisting essentially of ferromagnesian minerals to the virtual exclusion of quartz, feldspar, and feldspathoids.

CONT

Economic deposits of the mineral chromite are almost universally associated with mafic or ultra-mafic rocks.

OBS

Originally defined as rocks containing less than 45% silica, this artificial boundary has now been abandoned as a result of the recognition of many rock types which while undoubtedly ultrabasic by other tests, contain more than 45% silica ...

OBS

According to the source MROCK, 1985 (Richard Scott Mitchell, Dictionary of Rocks), the terms "ultramafic rock" and "ultrabasic rock" are nearly synonymous. They differ in that ultrabasic rocks contain little or no feldspar while ultramafic rocks contain no feldspar.

OBS

As a noun, the term "ultramafic" is used in the plural.

OBS

ultramafics: term used at Natural Resources Canada - Earth Sciences Sector.

Key term(s)
  • ultra-basic rock
  • ultra basic rock
  • ultra mafic rock
  • ultra-basite
  • ultra basite
  • ultra-mafite
  • ultra mafite
  • ultra-mafics
  • ultra mafics

French

Domaine(s)
  • Pétrographie
  • Géochimie
DEF

Roche magmatique mélanocrate à holomélanocrate pauvre en silice (SiO2 <45 %) et riche en calcium, fer et magnésium, constituée essentiellement d'un ou plusieurs minéraux ferromagnésiens (péridot, pyroxène, amphibole).

OBS

La notion d'acidité, quelque peu ambiguë pour les roches, a été introduite au milieu du siècle dernier par Élie de Beaumont qui, en fonction de la teneur en SiO2, distingue les roches acides [plus de 65 %], les roches intermédiaires [entre 52 et 65 %], les roches basiques [entre 45 et 52 %] et les roches ultra-basiques [moins de 45 %].

OBS

ultramafite : terme en usage à Ressources naturelles Canada - Secteur des sciences de la Terre.

Key term(s)
  • roche ultra basique
  • ultra-basite
  • ultra basite
  • roche ultra-mafique
  • roche ultra mafique
  • ultra-mafite
  • ultra mafite
  • ultra-mafitite
  • ultra mafitite

Spanish

Campo(s) temático(s)
  • Petrografía
  • Geoquímica
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