Azoic

Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 1: A to Beaufort, p. 622

Azoic (Gr. a, 'without,' zōē, 'life'), a term applied in geology to rocks which contain no fossils. By those who deny the organic origin of Eozoön (q.v.), the archæan crystalline schists (which underlie the oldest fossiliferous strata) form the azoic system. See ARCHEAN SYSTEM.

Source scan(s): p. 0649