Is Granite A Sedimentary Rock

Granite is an intrusive igneous rock which means it was formed in place during the cooling of molten rock.

Is granite a sedimentary rock. Granite is a light colored igneous rock with grains large enough to be visible with the unaided eye. It forms from the slow crystallization of magma below earth s surface. Granite is not the kind of rock that would form into sandstone. Sandstone is a sedimentary rock that is worn away by dirt and dust rubbing against it in the wind.

Generally the slower the molten rock cooled the larger. In general terms granite is an igneous rock. But there has been a famous debate over the years because extreme metamorphosis of crustal sediments can produce melts of rocks that are also granite. Outcrops of granite tend to form tors domes or bornhardts and rounded massifs.

It is the most abundant basement rock that underlies the relatively thin sedimentary veneer of the continents. Gneiss however is distinguished from granite by its strong fabric and alternating dark and light colored bands. A rock with a similar composition and appearance as granite gneiss can form through long and intense metamorphism of sedimentary paragneiss or igneous rocks orthogneiss. Formally granite is a plutonic rock that is composed of between 10 to 50 quartz typically semi transparent white and 65 to 90 total feldspar typically a pinkish or white hue.