What does granite consist of and where does it occur in nature?

If you ask the first person who got caught, what kind of rock is, in his opinion, the most solid, then he will say with a high degree of probability that it is granite. The stone from this mineral is very hard and practical, and also quite attractive in appearance, and therefore it is very often used in construction. In addition, it is often used to create various decorative elements, including monuments. The name of this breed comes from the Latin word "granum", which means "grain".

What does granite consist of?

The main components of this rock, widely distributed in the earth's surface , are feldspar and quartz. What does a granite stone look like? Photos and descriptions of various species of this rock indicate that this stone can differ significantly in color, be completely different from other varieties and take different shades, from pale pink to gray. The color of granite depends mainly on the mineral, which in its mass fraction prevails over the other components that make up this rock. Feldspar is usually represented by various types of potassium spar and can be supplemented with albite or oligoclase. And quartz inclusions in granite have the form of small glassy grains. The latter can be either slightly bluish or colorless. In addition, when answering the question of what granite is made of, it is necessary to note inclusions of muscovite and biotite, as well as elements such as zircon, magnetite, titanite, apatite and allanite. However, their content in this mineral is very, very small. Listing all that is made up of granite, we note that with the predominance or lack of various components, it begins to be attributed to other varieties of rocks. So, if it contains too little potassium feldspar and quartz, it falls into a group of diorites or quartz monzonites. And if there is too much mass fraction of plagioclase in the granite, then this mineral will be considered granodiorite, and if the content of dark-colored minerals is too low, it will be leucogranite.

Deposits and mining

After we have examined in detail, of what granite consists, we will tell a little about where the given mineral meets and where it is mined. In nature, this rock is covered with rather massive layers, known as batholiths. Their thickness is 3-4 km, and the area often exceeds 100 square kilometers. Also, the deposits of granite can take the form of stocks and dikes. Often the layers of this mineral are located one above the other, and as a layer sedimentary or metamorphic rocks appear. Deposits of granite rocks exist absolutely on every continent. Most often they occur in places where there were strong erosion and denudation processes, because of which the integrity of sedimentary rocks was violated. In the US, granite deposits are located near the Ozark Plateau, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and in the Black Hills Mountains. In Russia, this mineral is mainly located in the Urals, in the eastern part of Siberia and in the Far East.