A lava or other igneous rock composed chiefly of carbonates rather than silicates.
unusual magmas such as carbonatites
mass noun carbonatite is rich in calcium carbonate
Example sentencesExamples
- Indeed, pegmatites from gabbros to granites to carbonatites to anorthosites are known.
- Subordinate volumes of carbonatite and lamprophyre magmas are also present.
- The rock turned out to be an apatite-bearing carbonatite.
- It consists of gabbroic, ultramafic and alkaline rocks, mafic dyke swarms and carbonatites.
- Next in abundance, although rare in comparison to silicate rocks, are carbonate-based magmas and lavas known as carbonatites, which have little (less than 15 per cent by weight) or no silica content.