Relating to or describing minerals that formed in place within a rock through local chemical processes, rather than being transported from elsewhere.
From 'authigene' + '-etic' (suffix forming adjectives). The geological term emphasizes the generative process of minerals forming in situ.
Authigenetic quartz or feldspar tells geologists about the hidden chemistry of ancient oceans and buried sediments—they're like mineral fossils of the chemical environment where they crystallized.
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