Word.ws English Dictionary

tonsteins

tonsteins is the plural of tonstein.

Meaning of tonstein

Noun

tonstein (countable and uncountable, plural tonsteins)

  1. A hard, compact, kaolinite-rich claystone formed by the diagenetic alteration of volcanic ash, usually occurring as thin, laterally persistent layers interbedded with coal seams.
    • Tonsteins, which are altered volcanic ash, mark instantaneous events over large areas and thus are excellent time markers for basin analysis.1990, W.F. Outerbridge, P.C. Lyons, D.M. Triplehorn, “New Tonstein Beds in the Middle Pennsylvanian of the Central Appalachian Basin-Time Lines for Basin Analysis”, in USGS Research on Energy...
  2. Any indurated argillaceous rock that stands out within coal measures as a distinctive marker horizon.
    • In Figure 13, all data points of the tonstein samples fall within the CHARAC range.2025 June 27, Ahmed E. Radwan, Hu Li, Peng Tan, editors, Differences in shale oil and gas reservoirs across various sedimentary environments: theories and applications, volume II, page 74

Questions about tonsteins

What is tonsteins the plural of?
Tonsteins is the plural of tonstein.

Words near tonsteins in the dictionary

  1. tonsor
  2. tonsorial
  3. tonsorially
  4. tonsors
  5. tonstein
  6. tonsteins
  7. tonsular
  8. tonsure
  9. tonsured
  10. tonsures
  11. tonsuring

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tonsteins (page history and authors); tonstein (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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