Pyroxenite
Ultramafic rock in which pyroxene dominates over olivine and amphibole.
Language and route: Scientific rock compound from pyroxene + -ite. Scientific rock compound from pyroxene + -ite
Literal gloss: pyroxene rock
The name and its history
Senft and Coquand (1857), reported in later reference; individual primary pages unverified · 1857 reported; primary priority unverified
- What does the word literally mean?
- Literal naming sense: pyroxene rock. Immediate language/formation: Scientific rock compound from pyroxene + -ite. Derives from the mineral name; the literal “stranger to fire” belongs to the parent mineral’s history.
- What did the original author mean?
- Created as a mineral-based rock label for coarse rocks comprising predominantly pyroxenes rather than feldspar.
- Why was the name needed?
- The need was to describe a very mafic end-member distinct from peridotite and gabbro.
- What evidence supported the original concept?
- Mineral identification and abundance in rocks; early petrographic comparison of augite and related species.
- How has geology changed the concept?
- Pyroxenite survives as an assemblage term, although the mineral name pyroxene began in Haüy’s mistaken interpretation of volcanic crystals.
Further historical context
Created as a mineral-based rock label for coarse rocks comprising predominantly pyroxenes rather than feldspar.
The need was to describe a very mafic end-member distinct from peridotite and gabbro.
Mineral identification and abundance in rocks; early petrographic comparison of augite and related species.
Pyroxenite survives as an assemblage term, although the mineral name pyroxene began in Haüy’s mistaken interpretation of volcanic crystals.
Related names
Pyroxene · Peridotite · Gabbro · Norite · Hornblende
Sources
- Smith College, pyroxenite petrographic reference — Reports Senft and Coquand 1857 naming and classification
- BGS, Rock Classification Scheme — Modern descriptive rock-naming principles and definitions
- USGS, Lithologic classification of geologic map units — Modal definitions and named plutonic-rock categories
- IUGS / Le Maitre et al. (2002), Igneous Rocks: A Classification and Glossary of Terms, ch. 3 — Authoritative IUGS rock-name history and bibliographic attributions