SINCE 1828
zircon
noun
zir·con
| \ ˈzər-ˌkän
, -kən\
, -kən\
Definition of zircon
: a tetragonal mineral consisting of a silicate of zirconium and occurring usually in brown or grayish square prisms of adamantine luster or sometimes in transparent forms which are used as gems
Examples of zircon in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
As Laura Geggel reports for Live Science, the first of the dating techniques the researchers used measured uranium and thorium’s decay into helium to calculate the age of small zircon crystals retrieved from the site. — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, "Rock Art and Footprints Reveal How Ancient Humans Responded to Volcanic Eruption," 4 June 2019 Tiny igneous zircon grains within this rock fragment were fractured by the launch from Mars but otherwise unaltered for more than 4.4 billion years. — Ashley Strickland, CNN, "When did life have a chance on Mars? After giant meteorites stopped hitting it 4.4 billion years ago," 24 June 2019 About 5,000 minerals — crystalline substances such as quartz, zircon and diamond — have been found on Earth. — Quanta Magazine, "How Life and Luck Changed Earth’s Minerals," 11 Aug. 2015 Minerals in the zircon show a time when Earth’s oceans, atmosphere and plate tectonics began. — Rachael Lallensack, Smithsonian, "Here Are 12 Things You Might Miss in the Smithsonian’s New Fossil Hall," 7 June 2019 The zircon carbide ends up providing the material with a stiffness even at high temperatures, while the tungsten is flexible enough to keep the whole thing from being brittle. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "New material could up efficiency of concentrated solar power," 19 Oct. 2018 Scientists arrived at its true age after isolating certain minerals known as zircons. — Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, "The Ancient Martian Rock that Fell to Earth," 20 Nov. 2013 The new finding confirms that the zircon comes from the island itself. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "Researchers Think They’ve Found a Mini Continent in the Indian Ocean," 2 Feb. 2017 The researchers recovered zircons as old as 3 billion years, Ashwal says in a press release. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "Researchers Think They’ve Found a Mini Continent in the Indian Ocean," 2 Feb. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'zircon.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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