saussurite Min.
(ˈsɔːsjʊəraɪt)
[Named after Prof. H. B. de Saussure (1740–99) who first described it: see -ite1.]
A very compact variety of zoisite. Also Comb. saussurite-gabbro, a variety of gabbro in which the component feldspar and diallage have been partly altered to saussurite.
| 1811 Pinkerton Petral. I. 362 Saussurite..from the western isles of Scotland. 1880 F. W. Rudler in Encycl. Brit. XIII. 541/1 H. B. de Saussure..found a greenish mineral, of singular toughness, which he described as jade... Its chemical composition, however, is quite unlike that of jade, and Beudant separated it as a distinct mineral under the name of ‘saussurite’. 1885 Judd in Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. XLI. 398 The saussurite-gabbros. |
Hence saussuˈritic a., resembling, pertaining to, or characterized by the presence of saussurite; saussuritiˈzation (also incorrectly saussuriˈzation), conversion into saussurite, or the process by which saussurite is formed; ˈsaussuritized ppl. a., converted into saussurite, or having component minerals converted into saussurite.
| 1885 Bonney Addr. Geol. Soc. 70 The felspar being changed into a saussuritic mineral. 1889 M'Mahon in Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. XLV. 532 The felspar in all these rocks affords more or less evidence of incipient saussurization. 1893 Geikie Text-Bk. Geol. (ed. 3) 618 Saussuritization, the alteration of plagioclase into an aggregate of needles, prisms, or grains..imbedded in a glass-like matrix.., by an exchange of silica and alkali for lime, iron and water. 1907 J. S. Flett in W. A. E. Ussher Geol. Plymouth & Liskeard 101 There are..saussuritized residues of felspar. 1954 Mineral. Mag. XXX. 525 The high density..of the rock..distinguishes it from saussuritized gabbros. 1974 Nature 25 Jan. 195/2 The plagioclase of the gabbros is often saussuritised. |