ORTHOCLASE

Orthoclase

Orthoclase is an important tectosilicate mineral which forms igneous rock. The name is from the Greek for "straight fracture," because its two cleavage planes are at right angles to each other. Alternate names are alkali feldspar, potassium feldspar and K-feldspar. The gem known as moonstone is largely composed of orthoclase.

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orthoclase

Noun

  1. Potassium aluminum silicate, KAlSi3O8, a common feldspar of igneous, plutonic, and metamorphic rocks. Orthoclase is the main feldspar of pegmatite occurrences, where it is most commonly flesh-colored. Orthoclase is used in the ceramic and glass industries and as a decorative gravel.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: orthoclase
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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