What Is Granite Rock Made Of

Granite is composed mainly of quartz and feldspar with minor amounts of mica amphiboles and other minerals.

What is granite rock made of. Granite is a light colored igneous rock with grains large enough to be visible with the unaided eye. It is the most common plutonic rock of the earth s crust forming by the cooling of magma silicate melt at depth. Granite contains several minerals of which quartz feldspar and mica are the three main components. Learn more about the properties and uses of granite in this article.

This mineral composition usually gives granite a red pink gray or white color with dark mineral grains visible throughout the rock. First granite is made of large mineral grains its name is latin for granum or grain that fit tightly together. It is phaneritic meaning its individual grains are large enough to distinguish with the human eye. It forms from the slow crystallization of magma below earth s surface.

Strictly speaking granite is an igneous rock with between 20 and 60 quartz by volume and at least 35 of the total feldspar consisting of alkali feldspar although commonly the term granite is used to refer to a wider range of coarse grained igneous rocks containing quartz and feldspar. Granite is composed mainly of quartz and feldspar with minor amounts of mica amphiboles and other minerals. These minerals and their variation in abundance and alteration give granite the numerous colors and textures we see in granite countertops. Granite is an igneous rock made up of primarily quartz feldspar micas amphiboles and a mixture of additional trace minerals.

The granite is called an igneous rock derived from a latin word ignis meaning fire. Strictly speaking granite is an igneous rock with a volume of between 20 and 60 and at least 35 of the total feldspar consisting of alkali feldspar although the term granite is commonly used to refer to a wider range of coarse grained igneous rocks with quartz and feldspar.