Having the form, shape, or appearance of basalt; resembling basalt in structure or configuration.
From 'basalt' combined with Latin '-formis' (having the form of). This technical term emerged in 19th-century mineralogy to describe rocks or structures that mimicked basalt's distinctive columnar or compact appearance.
Some rocks aren't actually basalt but look so similar that geologists call them 'basaltiform'—it's like how a whale looks like a fish but isn't one; sometimes nature makes convincing copies.
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