plutonn.
/ˈpluːtɒn/, U.S. /ˈpluˌtɑn/ Geology.
A large body of intrusive igneous rock.
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the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > discontinuity or unconformity > [noun] > intrusion
intrusion1839
intrusive1895
emplacement1914
pluton1934
facies1965
1933 R. A. Daly Igneous Rocks & Depths of Earth vi. 75 He [sc. H. Cloos] states that he does not assume floors for batholiths but on the next page defines his ‘Plutone’, which includes batholiths, as having visible or inferable floors.]
1934 Jrnl. Geol. (Chicago) 42 398 The Loon Lake pluton appears to be a funnel-shaped granite body with inward-dipping contacts.
1942 M. P. Billings Struct. Geol. xv. 296 The intrusion of large plutons may be associated with orogenic movements.
1961 F. H. Lahee Field Geol. (ed. 6) vi. 141 Concordant plutons include sills, laccoliths, lopoliths, and phacoliths.
1961 F. H. Lahee Field Geol. (ed. 6) vi. 142 Discordant plutons include dikes, necks, chonoliths, batholiths, stocks, and bosses.
1971 I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth v. 84/2 The observed linear relation between heat flow and heat production in granitic plutons may allow precise estimates of temperature as far down as the base of the crust.
1995 Earth Oct. 82/1 Spitzkopje is a pluton—a giant body of granite that formed underground as magma crystallized into solid rock. It eventually surfaced as erosion removed the overlying rock.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1934