greywacke

greywacke

English

Alternative forms

• graywacke

Etymology

Anglicised form of grauwacke.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹeɪ.wak.ə/
• (GS) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹeɪ.wæk/

Noun

greywacke (countable and uncountable, plural greywackes)

1. (geology) A hard dark sandstone with poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments in a compact, clay-fine matrix.
   • 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society 2011, p. 177:

     Endless bleak, rounded hills composed of shales and ribs of tough ‘greywackes’ make up the Southern Uplands – all of such rocks were originally deposited under marine conditions.

Derived terms

• metagreywacke, metagraywacke

Translations

hard dark sandstone

Czech: droba f Finnish: grauvakka Maori: whatuaho Polish: szarogłaz (pl) m Russian: граува́кка (ru) f (grauvákka)