Granite Facts
Posted by Admin / in Science Facts
Facts about Granite
- Granite is a type of bedrock known as igneous rock.
- Granite is characterized by a coarse-grained holocrystalline granular texture.
- Granite has different colors from blacks and greys, browns and yellows to red or even pink.
- Granite is an ideal material for buildings and monuments. Rainfall and bad weather do not harm granite for many years.
- Polished granite is very popular. Builders today use polished granite for countertops and flooring.
- Granite is used as stone aggregate to make concrete and asphalt.
- Granite is moderately hard, harder than gold, silver, copper, aluminum, iron, glass and steel. Granite is not as hard as topaz, titanium, emerald, hardened steel or diamonds.
- Granite has been used for a long time. The Egyptians used granite for pieces of some pyramids and structures. One of the most famous ancient granite structures is the Brihadeeswarar Temple, which was built entirely from granite in the 10th century in India.
- Granite contains the highest percentage of the mineral silica (SiO2). Granite contains more than 69 percent silica. Silica is a common material that is found in over 1/4th the Earth's crust.
- There is some debate between scientists and geologists on how granite was formed. One side believes that granite bedrock crystallized from liquid granite magma. The other side believes granite was formed through the process of granitization without the inclusion of a silicate melt.
- 80 percent of granite is believed to have been formed in Precambrian times.
- 99 percent of granite was embedded in the continental crust.
- Geologists group granite into 3 major categories including alkaline, peraluminous and calc-alkaline.
- Calc-alkaline granites make up about 70-80 percent of granite on Earth. Calc-alkaline granites are considered I-type granites.
- Peraluminous granite, also known as S-type granites contain a higher amount of aluminum than other types.
- Alkaline granites contain a higher amount of iron-rich minerals than other granites.
- Granite is found throughout the world, on every continent on Earth.
- Major granite formations are found in Yosemite National Park in California. The famous half dome and El Capitan peaks are large exposed pieces of granite. The Yosemite Valley itself was created by glaciers carving up to 3000 feet deep through solid granite.
- Acadia National Park in Maine is also a good location to find huge granite formations.
- The Andes Mountains in Chile is the locations of many different mountain peaks and cliffs that are composed of solid granite.
- The three granite peaks known as the Torres Del Paine are located within the Andes Mountain Range in Southern Chile.
- One of the most famous pieces of granite in the world was used by artists Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln Borglum. It is Mount Rushmore, which is a granite peak found in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. The father and son spent 14 years carving the 60 foot heads of the U.S. Presidents Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Roosevelt into the granite mountain cliff.
10th Century Brihadeeswarar Temple Granite Structure
Granite Geology Facts
Where to Find Granite
Torres Del Paine Granite Peaks
The carved granite at Mount Rushmore
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posted by Allen Douglas - Allen is a profession engineer, achieving a Master of Science in Engineering. He has taught at the university level, but enjoys helping younger students to learn about math and science. Mr. Douglas has been writing technical papers for over 20 years, and writing online articles since 2008.