cheralite

1. (mineralogy) Any of a range of yellowish-brown to green minerals that are mixed phosphates of (primarily) calcium and thorium, associated with uraniferous deposits.Examples: "The rotation pattern in the small interplanar region was somewhat diffuse in the cheralites and Travancore monazites, but not in the Yediyoor specimens, indicating the existence of partial disorder in the former."; "Even at the thin-section scale, the cheralite mole fraction may vary over a range of more than 50%, expressing that only part of the monazites is actually in equilibrium with the host-granite REE composition."; "Small-sized cheralite is disseminated in cavities of lateritic soil particles (e.g., of sericitized orthoclase) of the Morro do Ferro deposit, Minas Gerais, southeaster Brazil."countableuncountable