Basic Rock - LIAS Glossary

This is a test version of the LIAS Glossary. Many definitions presented here are still in need of revision! Criticism as well as collaboration is welcome!

basic rock (noun, pl. basic rocks; ecology term, substrate term) – (1) mineralogical: a rock with a low content of acidic minerals, i. e., containing only small amounts or entirely lacking SiO2; (2) chemical: a rock with a high pH. Note: an ambiguous term; sometimes imprecisely used to refer only to the pH of a rock substrate; the mineralogical definition should be preferred because it includes the chemical composition of a rock; if the pH reaction needs to be emphasized it should be referred to as "a rock with a high pH" not as a "basic rock"; the two definitions are often not identical, e. g., the mineralogy of a basalt is basic because it has a low content of SiO2-minerals, nevertheless a basalt has a low (or neutral) but never a high, "basic" pH. In lichenology the definition has often erroneously been used to refer to calcareous rocks, i. e., rocks characterized by the presence of calcites (testing positive ("bubbling") if a 10% solution of HCl is applied top the surface).

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