Definitions for volcanic glass

This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word volcanic glass

Random House Webster's College Dictionary

volcan′ic glass′(n.)

  1. a natural glass produced when molten lava cools very rapidly; obsidian.

    Category: Geology

Origin of volcanic glass:


Princeton's WordNet

  1. volcanic glass(noun)

    a kind of natural glass produced when molten lava cools very rapidly


  1. Volcanic glass

    Volcanic glass is the amorphous product of rapidly cooling magma. Like all types of glass, it is a state of matter intermediate between the close-packed, highly ordered array of a crystal and the highly disordered array of gas. Volcanic glass can refer to the interstitial, or matrix material in an aphanitic volcanic rock or can refer to any of several types of vitreous igneous rocks. Most commonly, it refers to obsidian, a rhyolitic glass with high silica content. Other types of volcanic glass include: ⁕Pumice, which is considered a glass because it has no crystal structure. ⁕Apache tears, a kind of nodular obsidian. ⁕Tachylite, a basaltic glass with relatively low silica content. ⁕Sideromelane, a less common form tachylyte. ⁕Palagonite, a basaltic glass with relatively low silica content. ⁕Hyaloclastite, a hydrated tuff-like breccia of sideromelane and palagonite. ⁕Pele's hair, threads or fibers of volcanic glass, usually basaltic. ⁕Pele's tears, tear-like drops of volcanic glass, usually basaltic. ⁕Limu o Pele, thin sheets and flakes of brownish-green to near-clear volcanic glass, usually basaltic.


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