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Granite (/ ˈ ɡ r æ n ɪ t / GRAN-it) is a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase.It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground.
Granite rock hand-sized sample. A granitoid is a generic term for a diverse category of coarse-grained igneous rocks that consist predominantly of quartz, plagioclase, and alkali feldspar. [1] Granitoids range from plagioclase-rich tonalites to alkali-rich syenites and from quartz-poor monzonites to quartz-rich quartzolites. [2]
This category contains the geologic formations with a granite lithology. Subcategories. This category has only the following subcategory. D. Granite domes (1 C, 15 P)
Granophyric textures can be found in S-type granites, particularly leucocratic ones. In porphyritic S-type granites, phenocrysts are commonly feldspars, but can also be quartz, and in rare cases, such as the Strathbogie Granite, cordierite. Figure 7 shows an example of granophyric texture in the Strathbogie Granite. The mineral quartz (light ...
The batholith – the combined mass of subsurface plutons – became exposed as tectonic forces initiated the formation of the Basin and Range geologic province, including the Sierra Nevada. As the mountains rose, the forces of erosion eventually wore down the material which had covered the batholith for millions of years.
Granite forms deep in the Earth's crust under conditions of high ambient or lithostatic pressure. In order for the granite to be exposed at the Earth's surface a considerable thickness of rock must be eroded. This unloading allows the granite to expand radially and sheet fractures form tangentially to the radial stress. This indicates that the ...
For example, the Dartmoor granite was emplaced around 280 million years ago. When the cover rocks eroded away it was exposed to chemical and physical weathering processes. [7] Where joints are closely spaced, the large crystals in the granite readily disintegrate to form a sandy regolith known locally as growan.
Exfoliating slabs of granite, on Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, USA. Exfoliating granite is a granite undergoing exfoliation, or onion skin weathering (desquamation).The external delaminated layers of granite are gradually produced by the cyclic variations of temperature at the surface of the rock in a process also called spalling.