Granites
Description
Granite terrains of the world, whether in lowland, upland or mountain settings, often have distinctive morphology, different from one typical for the surrounding country rock (Goudie, 2004). Granite is igneous rock which you can find almost everywhere in the world. However, there is no ‘standard’ granite landscape, as these can be significantly different, even if located adjacent to each other (Goudie, 2004).
Granite mainly consist of feldspar, quartz, mica, and amphibole minerals. Granite is predominantly, but by no means universally, more resistant to weathering and erosion than surrounding country rock, and therefore tends to form upland terrains and to support topographic steps (Goudie, 2004). Rocks color is mostly gray, sometimes with a tint of blue and red colour. It forms from the slow crystallization of magma below Earth’s surface, with grains large enough to be visible with the unaided eye (Geology.com, 2014). The average density of granite is between 2,65 and 2,75 g/cm3, its compressive strength usually lies above 200 MPa, its viscosity near STP (Standard conditions for temperature and pressure) is 3 – 6*1019 Pa*s and melting temperature is 1215 – 1260 °C (Wikipedia, 2014).
Granites are always intrusive, and their bodies take very diverse forms - veins, circular complexes, domes and large plutons (batholith), etc. (Geology.cz, 2007).
References:
[1] GOUDIE, Andrew. Encyclopedia of geomorphology. New York: International Association of Geomorphologists, 2004, 2 v. (p.1156). ISBN 04153273852.
[2] Granit. Geology.cz [online]. 2007 [cit. 2014-12-21]. http://www.geology.cz/aplikace/encyklopedie/term.pl?granit
[3] Granite. Geology.com [online]. 2005 - 2014 [cit. 2014-12-15]. http://geology.com/rocks/granite.shtml.
[4] Granite. Wikipedia, Otevřená encyklopedie. [cit. 2014-12-15]. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Granite&oldid=638082077.
[5] PAUK, František, a kol. Mineralogie, petrografie a geologie. Praha: Státní pedagogické nakladatelství, Praha, 1969. ISBN 14-316-76.