phyllosilicate Min.
(fɪləʊˈsɪlɪkeɪt)
[a. G. phyllosilikat (H. Strunz 1938, in Zeitschr. für ges. Naturwiss. IV. 185), f. as phyllo-: see silicate.]
Any of the group of silicates characterized by SiO4 tetrahedra linked in sheets of indefinite extent in which the ratio of silicon and aluminium to oxygen is 2:5.
| 1947 Mineral. Abstr. X. 52 The different types of SiO4 bonding give at last a systematic classification of silicates into nesosilicates.., sorosilicates.., inosilicates.., phyllosilicates.., and tectosilicates. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. XII. 312/1 The phyllosilicates as a group typically have a platy crystal habit, with a cleavage parallel to the plane of layering of the structure, and are optically negative with rather high birefringence. 1972 Nature 1 Sept. 7/1 Phyllosilicates are the most common material in carbonaceous meteorites. |