Facts about Granite
A granite containing both muscovite and biotite micas is called a binary or "two-mica" granite.
Most granite intrusions are emplaced at depths from 1.5 - 50 km (.9 - 30 miles) in the continental crust.
Small dikes of granitic composition called "aplites" are associated with granite margins.
Granite has been intruded into the Earth's crust during all geologic periods; much of it is of Precambrian age.
The production of granite by metamorphic heat is difficult, but it is observed to occur in certain amphibolite and granulite terrains.
The final mineralogy, texture, and chemical composition of a granite are often distinctive, based on its origin.
Granite comprises a number of minerals, primarily orthoclase and plagioclase feldspars, quartz, hornblende, and muscovite or biotite micas.
Many large Hindu temples in southern India, particularly those built by the eleventh-century king Rajaraja Chola I, were made of granite.
Today, granite continues to be used as a dimension stone (stone available in large quantities cut to specific sizes) in buildings and monuments.
Granite magma must make room for itself or be intruded into other rocks, and several mechanisms have been proposed to explain how large batholiths have been emplaced.
The word granite comes from the Latin granum, for grain, referring to the common, coarse-grained structure for this type of crystalline rock.
The granitization theory states that granite (or some types of granite) is formed in place by extreme metamorphism—that is, the solid-state recrystallization of pre-existing rock, under conditions of extreme heat and pressure.
The "alphabet-soup" classification is often used because it classifies granite based on origin of the "parental" magma from which the granite was formed.
The "avant-garde" was what Modernism was called at first, and the term remained to describe movements which identify themselves as attempting to overthrow some aspect of tradition or the status quo.
Two-mica granites are typically high in potassium and low in plagioclase.
Granite is currently known only on Earth, where it forms a major part of the continental crust.
Menkaure's Pyramid, likely dating to the same era, was constructed of limestone and granite blocks.
Granite is a hard, tough, igneous rock that is widely distributed in the Earth's continental crust.
Both of these types of granite were formed by the melting of precursor rock called the protolith.
The amount of granite in them is said to be comparable to that used in the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The origin of granite is contentious and has led to varied schemes of classification.
The naming of various types of granite is based on their mineralogic composition, using what is called the "QAPF diagram" for coarse-grained plutonic rocks (granitoids).
Other uses of granite in ancient Egypt include columns, door lintels, sills, jambs, and wall and floor veneer.
Most geologists today accept that a combination of these processes may operate to produce granite intrusions, as no single mechanism provides an adequate explanation.
Later, "M-type" (mantle-derived) granite was proposed, to cover granites that clearly arose from magmas sourced from the mantle.
According to modern petrology, true granite contains both plagioclase and orthoclase feldspars.
When a granitoid is extremely rich in orthoclase, the rock is referred to as alkali granite.
Granite is a light-colored igneous rock with grains large enough to be visible with the unaided eye. It forms from the slow crystallization of magma below Earth's surface. Granite is composed mainly of quartz and feldspar with minor amounts of mica, amphiboles, and other minerals.