oncoliten.
/ˈɒŋkə(ʊ)lʌɪt/, U.S. /ˈɑnkoʊˌlaɪt/, /ˈɑŋkoʊˌlaɪt/ Geology.
A spheroidal stromatolite.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > texture or colour > [noun] > texture > round inclusions
chondrule1889
water biscuit1899
orbicule1931
oncolite1933
1933 R. B. Young in Trans. Geol. Soc. S. Afr. 35 32 Professor Julius Pia, in Hirmer's Handbuch der Paläobotanik, places the stromatolites among the Schizophyceae and separates them into two groups, the Stromatolithi and the Oncolithi, the latter embracing the forms..that occur as separate or individual bodies. In this paper the term ‘oncolite’ will be employed in the same sense, but without any implication that the bodies..differ from the rest of the stromatolites in any respect other than that generally they have formed round detached nuclei.
1962 Jrnl. Palaeontol. 36 1291 The fauna is extracted from hydrochloric acid residues of oncolites from 7 localities in southwestern Montana.
1991 R. Goldring Fossils in Field v. 94 There are also some true organic structures that often look inorganic, such as stromatolites and oncolites.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1933