Granite Granite Granite () is a common type of felsic intrusive igneous rock that is granular and phaneritic in texture. Granites can be predominantly white, pink, or gray in color, depending on their mineralogy. The word "granite" comes from the Latin "granum", a grain, in reference to the coarse-grained structure of such a holocrystalline rock. 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
Alkali feldspar granite Less than that amount would designate the rock as a granite. Other incorporated silicate minerals may include, very minor amounts of plagioclase feldspar, mica in the form of muscovite and/or biotite, and amphibole (often hornblende). Oxide minerals such as magnetite, ilmenite, or ulvospinel. Some sulfides and phosphates (mainly apatite) may also be present. Alkali feldspar granites generally occur with other alkali-rich granitoids, such as monzogranite and syenogranite, forming part of the A-type granites. They are found in a wide range of tectonic settings and their origins remain uncertain. Granitic rocks in general are of interest to geologists, geochemists, etc., because