If you ask the first person who comes to know which rock is, in his opinion, the most durable, then he will most likely say 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 granite consists of
The main components of this rock, widespread in the earth's surface, are feldspar and quartz. What does granite stone look like? Photos and descriptions of the different species of this breed indicate that this stone can significantly differ in color, be completely different from other varieties and take on different shades, ranging from pale pink to gray. The color of granite mainly depends 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 appearance of small glassy grains. The latter can be either slightly bluish or colorless. In addition, when answering the question of what granite consists of, it is necessary to note inclusions from 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. Enumerating all of what granite consists of, we note that with the predominance or shortage of certain components, it begins to be attributed to other types of rocks. So, if there is too little potassium feldspar and quartz in it, then it falls into the group of diorites or quartz monzonites. And if there is too much mass fraction of plagioclase in granite, then this mineral will be considered granodiorite, and if the content of dark-colored minerals is too low, it will be considered leucogranite.
Deposits and mining
After we have examined in detail what granite consists of, we will tell a little about where this mineral is found and where it is mined. In nature, this rock lies in fairly massive formations, known as batholiths. Their thickness is 3-4 km, and the area often exceeds 100 square kilometers. Granite deposits can also take the form of rods and dikes. Often the layers of this mineral are located one above the other, and sedimentary or metamorphic rocks act as a layer. Granite deposits exist on absolutely every continent.
Most often they are found in those places where strong erosion and denudation processes took place, due to which the integrity of sedimentary rocks was disrupted. In the USA, 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.
