The Igneous Rock Granite

Photo by eva didonato.

The igneous rock granite.

Intrusive igneous rocks crystallize below earth s surface and the slow cooling that occurs there allows large crystals to form. Granite is the most widespread of igneous rocks underlying much of the continental crust. Igneous rocks form when magma molten rock cools and crystallizes either at volcanoes on the surface of the earth or while the melted rock is still inside the crust. Eventually the overlying rocks are removed exposing the granite.

Intrusive rocks form from molten material magma that flows and solidifies underground where magma cools slowly. Examples of intrusive igneous rocks are diabase diorite gabbro granite pegmatite and peridotite. Granite boulders at joshua tree national park california. What are igneous rocks.

Magma that rises to the surface is called lava. Learn more about the properties and uses of granite in this article. Granite ˈ ɡ r æ n ɪ t is a common type of felsic intrusive igneous rock that is granular and phaneritic in texture. The main minerals in igneous rocks are hard primary ones.

Granite is a type of igneous rock that consists of quartz gray plagioclase feldspar white and alkali feldspar beige plus dark minerals such as biotite and hornblende. Igneous rocks can have many different compositions depending on the magma they cool from. Magma originates deep within the earth near active plate boundaries or hot spots. The two best known igneous rock types are basalt and granite which have distinctly different compositions and textures.

It forms from the slow crystallization of magma below earth s surface. Granite is an igneous intrusive rock crystallized at depth with felsic composition rich in silica and predominately quartz plus potassium rich feldspar plus sodium rich plagioclase and phaneritic subeuhedral texture minerals are visible to the unaided eye and commonly some of them retain original crystallographic shapes. Granites can be predominantly white pink or gray in color depending on their mineralogy the word granite comes from the latin granum a grain in reference to the coarse grained structure of such a completely crystalline rock. Granite is used by the public as a catchall name for any light colored coarse grained igneous rock.

Granite is an intrusive igneous rock. Feldspar quartz amphiboles and pyroxenes together called dark minerals by geologists as well as olivine along with the softer mineral mica. Granite is a light colored igneous rock with grains large enough to be visible with the unaided eye. Igneous rocks from the greek word for fire form when hot molten rock magma crystallizes and solidifies.

Strictly speaking granite is an. Granite coarse or medium grained intrusive igneous rock that is rich in quartz and feldspar. It is the most common plutonic rock of the earth s crust forming by the cooling of magma silicate melt at depth. There are two basic types.