Is Granite Mafic Or Felsic

Granite is a felsic rock.

Is granite mafic or felsic.

Granite ˈ ɡ r æ n ɪ t is a common type of felsic intrusive igneous rock that is granular and phaneritic in texture. Felsic rocks can be produced by metamorphism of both igneous and sedimentary protoliths e g granite and arkose respectively and are rich in silicon sodium na potassium calcium aluminum and lesser amounts of iron and magnesium. Common mafic rocks include basalt dolerite and gabbro. 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 completely crystalline rock.

Common felsic minerals include quartz muscovite hornblende orthoclase and the sodium rich plagioclase feldspars. The most common felsic rock is granite. On the opposite side of the rock spectrum are the iron and magnesium rich mafic and ultramafic minerals. Load more geology mining igneous rock volcanoes oceans and seas the difference between.

All felsic rocks contain a high percentage of silica. It is relating to denoting or containing a group of dark colored mainly ferromagnetic minerals such as pyroxene and olivine. Felsic magma or lava is higher in viscosity than mafic magma lava. Felsic refers to silicate minerals magma and rocks which are enriched in the lighter elements such as silicon oxygen aluminium sodium and potassium.

Granite is a great example of felsic rocks and muscovite quartz and some feldspar are the best examples of felsic minerals. Mafic rocks are dark in color. Felsic minerals are usually light in color and have specific gravities less than 3. The most common felsic rock is granite which represents the purified end product of the earth s internal differentiation process.

The term felsic describes igneous rocks that are relatively rich in the elements that form quartz and feldspar. For example granite contains around 70 of silica. It is important to note that there are many intermediate steps in the purification process and many intermediate magmas which are produced during the conversion from mafic to felsic. Felsic rocks are composed of high levels of magma silicate materials and rocks which are also rich in potassium oxygen silicon and sodium.

Mafic rocks derive from basalt protoliths and some volcanogenic sediments. Felsic rocks are usually light in color and have specific gravities less than 3. Rhyolite is not a mafic rock but a felsic rock high in silicates and similar to granite in composition.