pumice

PUM-is

A pale, frothy volcanic rock so full of gas bubbles that it floats on water — the only rock that does. Pumice forms when gas-rich magma is ejected explosively and cools so rapidly that the bubbles are frozen in place, creating a stone that is more air than solid. It is abrasive, light enough to drift across oceans, and has been used as a polishing and cleaning agent since antiquity.
Etymology
Latin pumex, from spuma, foam. Foam stone — rock that is mostly nothing.
geology Latin water
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