What Type of Rock Is It? Igneous
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? quartz, feldspars (microcline, orthoclase, albite), biotite, muscovite; Sometimes contain: hornblende, augite, magnetite, zircon
What Does It Look Like? The feldspars give granite most of its color, which may be white to light gray, yellowish, or pink. The quartz is usually smoky gray or white. Black specks of biotite, or sometimes hornblende, are common. So is silvery to brownish muscovite. Granite is coarse grained to very coarse grained. The crystals are randomly arranged (unlike gneiss where they are in lines or layers).
How Was It Formed? Granite forms deep in the earth's crust from cooling magma. The magma contains a lot of silica (quartz). Slow cooling produces the large crystals in granite.
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