Granite general, descriptive field term for lighter-colored, coarse-grained igneous rocks. Petrographic examination is required for identification of specific types of granitoids. The extrusive igneous rock equivalent of granite is rhyolite. Granite is nearly always massive (i.e., lacking any internal structures), hard, and tough. These properties have made granite a widespread construction stone throughout human history. The average density of granite is between , its compressive strength usually lies above 200 MPa, and its viscosity near STP is 3–6·10 Pa·s. The melting temperature of dry granite at ambient pressure is ; it is strongly reduced in the presence of water, down to
Fall River granite of the underlying granite is the Hixville Fault near Dartmouth, Massachusetts. From a distance, the rock exhibits a distinctive tan-gray color. Viewed up close, it is more pink. The granite is very hard and durable, but cannot be polished very well. As a result, its appearance on a building is almost always somewhat rough, rather than the sharp lines of other types of building stone. Edmund Hitchcock, of the 1841 Geological Survey of Massachusetts gave the following description of the granite: But no rock can be finer for architectural purposes than the granite of Troy...The feldspar of this rock is