clast
A piece of rock inside gravel or sandstone
- noun
- /klæst/
- Specialized
- During the field trip, we collected several clasts to study their characteristics more closely.
Examples
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And the hold clast are known
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Excavations showed ridges built predominantly of chert nodules and clasts.
Academic text (2002) -
The geologist examined the small clast embedded in the sedimentary rock.
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Sedimentary rocks are often composed of various sizes of clasts, including gravel and sand.
How Big
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word clast comes from the Greek root klast-, which means 'broken'. In geology a clast is a broken piece of rock, so the origin helps you remember it is a piece found in sediment or gravel.