Ampholite
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Any of a class of metamorphic rock composed mainly of amphibole and olivine.
"It seems possible that the characteristic hydrated minerals of the postulated assemblage would be amphiboles and that the metamorphic grade in the top 20 km of the oceanic mantle might correspond roughly to various subfacies within the amphibolite facies. A convenient name for these hypothetical rock types would be ‘ampholite’ or amphibole-olivine rock."
Example
More examples"It seems possible that the characteristic hydrated minerals of the postulated assemblage would be amphiboles and that the metamorphic grade in the top 20 km of the oceanic mantle might correspond roughly to various subfacies within the amphibolite facies. A convenient name for these hypothetical rock types would be ‘ampholite’ or amphibole-olivine rock."
Etymology
Blend of amphibole + olivine + -ite. Coined by A. E. Ringwood (1930–1993), Australian geophysicist, in 1962 in the Journal of Geophysical Research.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.