Rock group | Igneous |
Classification | Intrusive/plutonic |
Composition | Felsic |
Texture | Phaneritic |
Extrusive counterpart | Rhyolite |
Common minerals | Quartz Potassium feldspar Plagioclase feldspar Muscovite Biotite Hornblende |
Granite in Hand Sample
Ronas Hill granite from Shetland
Cape granite from South Africa
Wisconsin Red granite from, as you might expect, Wisconsin
Archean-aged granite from Wind River Canyon, Wyoming
Mesoproterozoic-aged Red Bluff granite from the Franklin Mountains, El Paso, TX
What most people probably think of when they think of granite
Granite in Thin Section
Thin Section GigaPans
This biotite granite features biotite, quartz (note that most of it is about one order too thick, which accounts for the yellowish color), perthite, microcline, plag, and muscovite. Several of the biotite grains include zircon.
Biotite granite, plane polars
Biotite granite, crossed polars