Cal*cif"er*ous (?), a. [L. calx, calcis, lime + -ferous.]
Bearing producing, or containing calcite, or carbonate of lime.
Calciferous epoch Geol., and epoch in the American lower Silurian system, immediately succeeding the Cambrian period. The name alludes to the peculiar mixture of calcareous and siliceous characteristics in many of the beds. See the Diagram under Geology.
© Webster 1913.