What Type of Rock Is It? Igneous
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? Dark colored plagioclase, hornblende, pyroxene, and sometimes a little quartz. May contain: light colored plagioclase feldspars, but only a little.
What Does It Look Like? Mostly it looks like a dark colored granite. The dark colored plagioclase feldspars and pyroxenes give it a darker color. It is usually medium to dark gray. Unlike granite, diorite has no mica, or very little, and those are dark colored. It is coarse grained (larger than rice).
How Was It Formed? Diorite forms deep in the earth's crust from cooling magma - just like granite. But, the magma does not contain a lot of quartz or the light colored minerals that make up the granite. Instead it contains only dark minerals.
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