Meaning of regmaglypt | Babel Free

Definitions

A small, shallow indentation or pit on the surface of a meteorite, resembling a thumbprint impression in clay, created by ablation while falling in an atmosphere.

Equivalents

Examples

“But, as the author has established, when an individual sample of a meteorite shower has a semi-orientated shape⟳ (roughly conoid, as in the given case), it must have⟳ definite morphological properties: on its front surface it must have⟳ a fully developed typical regmaglypt – relief which has had time to form⟳ during the sample's movement at cosmic speed⟳ after its separation from the main meteoric body.”

“This, the Warburton Range meteorite, weighs 125 lbs and is a single mass […] displaying regmaglypt patterns on its surface.”

“The largest Henbury meteorites show⟳ beautiful regmaglypt structures. Some are oriented, displaying a shieldlike form⟳ produced when a meteoroid passes through the atmosphere without tumbling and ablates, primarily on the leading side.”

“Another product of ablation that occurs during a meteoroid's brief atmospheric passage is the development of surface pits or regmaglypts on stones and irons alike. The common name⟳ for these is "thumb prints," since they are about the size of the human thumb. Regmaglypts in stones tend⟳ to be shallower than in irons, and are therefore not as well defined.”

CEFR level