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Granite Natural Rock

What is Granite?

Granite is an igneous rock composed of mostly two minerals: quartz and feldspar. It is an intrusive rock, meaning that it crystallized from magma that cooled far below the earth’s surface. Its name is derived from the Latin word ‘granum’, which means ‘grain’, a reference to the easily-seen minerals in the rock.

How Does Granite Form?

Given the abundance of granite, it’s not surprising to learn that geologists still have many questions about how it forms. Sure, it comes from molten rock, but just where did all that magma come from? And how far below ground did the magma crystallize?

Probably the most widely-accepted idea (at least at the moment) is that granite magma originated from a mechanism called partial melting, in which rocks of a very different composition melt in stages and the initial magma is enriched in the minerals that melt first. But where that happens – whether in the mantle or in the lower lithosphere – remains unclear. Regardless of where the magma formed, it probably migrated upward before collecting in large magma chambers prior to cooling and solidifying.

Texture And Colour

There are two obvious physical properties of granite that determine what it looks like: its texture (the size of the individual mineral grains) and its color. The variability in these two properties leads to a wide range of the appearance of granite.

The individual minerals in granite grow into visible grains because the magma cools slowly many miles below the surface. It is the size of the grains of different minerals that imparts the ‘speckled’ look to the rock.
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Granite as a Buildings Material

Granite has been extensively used as a dimension stone and as flooring tiles in public and commercial buildings and monuments. Because of its abundance, Polished granite is also a popular choice for kitchen countertops due to its high durability and aesthetic qualities. In building and for countertops, the term “granite” is often applied to all igneous rocks with large crystals, and not specifically to those with a granitic composition.

Granite block is usually processed into slabs and after can be cut and shaped by a cutting saw, then used as paving materials. This become more popular in modern landscaping applications.