Chemical Composition Of Granite And Basalt

Volcanic rock of equivalent chemical composition and mineralogy is called rhyolite.

Chemical composition of granite and basalt.

Types of basalt basalt types. Among other differences the nature of these rocks reveals that basalt is basic in nature whereas granite is acidic in nature. Learn more about the properties and uses of granite in this article. Granite is an intrusive igneous rock which is very hard crystalline and is visibly homogeneous in texture and forms by melting of continental rocks basalt forms when lava reaches the earth s surface near an active volcano.

Both are made up of minerals from the silicate group so both have large amounts of silicon. A magma the earth gets very hot just below the surface and there is lots of liquidrock available. Average chemical composition of basalt determined by 3594 chemical analyses of basaltic rocks 2 numbers are mass percents recalculated volatile free to total 100. It is defined in the tas diagram shown above.

Basalt and granite actually have quite a bit in common. A worldwide average of the chemical composition of granite by weight percent based on 2485 analyses. Sio 2 49 97 tio 2 1 87 al 2 o 3 15 99 fe 2 o 3 3 85 feo 7 24 mno 0 20 mgo 6 84 cao 9 62 na 2 o 2 96 k 2 o 1 12 p 2 o 5 0 35. Basalt is common on both earth and other solar system bodies such as the moon and mars while granite is only common on earth and rare elsewhere in the solar system.

Basalt is an igneous rock that contains more than 45 and less than 52 of sio2 and less than five percent of total alkalies k2o na2o 3. Included in this category are most basalts of the ocean floor most large oceanic islands and continental flood basalts such as the columbia. Tholeiites vs alkali basalts. Tholeiitic basalt is relatively rich in silica and poor in sodium.

Basalt is volcanic or extrusive forming at the surface while granite is plutonic or intrusive forming beneath the surface. Basalt is mafic while granite is felsic. Basalt has a strict chemical definition. The chemical composition of granite is typically 70 77 silica 11 13 alumina 3 5 potassium oxide 3 5 soda 1 lime 2 3 total iron and less than 1 magnesia and titania.

Two mica granites are typically high in potassium and low in plagioclase and are usually s type granites or a type granites. It is the most common plutonic rock of the earth s crust forming by the cooling of magma silicate melt at depth. Granite coarse or medium grained intrusive igneous rock that is rich in quartz and feldspar. This composition is as follows.