Is Granite Mafic Or Felsic

Felsic refers to silicate minerals magma and rocks which are enriched in the lighter elements such as silicon oxygen aluminium sodium and potassium.

Is granite mafic or felsic.

The word mafic comes from ma for magnesium and f for ferrum or the latin for iron. Mafic vs felsic mafic and felsic are categories into which igneous rocks are classified. The most common felsic rock is granite. It is relating to denoting or containing a group of dark colored mainly ferromagnetic minerals such as pyroxene and olivine.

The most common felsic rock is granite. For example granite contains around 70 of silica. Mafic rocks derive from basalt protoliths and some volcanogenic sediments. Load more geology mining igneous rock volcanoes oceans and seas the difference between.

Granite is a felsic rock. On the opposite side of the rock spectrum are the iron and magnesium rich mafic and ultramafic minerals. Granite ˈ ɡ r æ n ɪ t is a common type of felsic intrusive igneous rock that is granular and phaneritic in texture. Common mafic rocks include basalt dolerite and gabbro.

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. All felsic rocks contain a high percentage of silica. Common felsic minerals include quartz muscovite hornblende orthoclase and the sodium rich plagioclase feldspars. 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.

Felsic minerals are usually light in color and have specific gravities less than 3. 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. Rhyolite is not a mafic rock but a felsic rock high in silicates and similar to granite in composition. Felsic rocks are usually light in color and have specific gravities less than 3.

The term felsic describes igneous rocks that are relatively rich in the elements that form quartz and feldspar. The most common felsic rock is granite which represents the purified end product of the earth s internal differentiation process. Felsic rocks are composed of high levels of magma silicate materials and rocks which are also rich in potassium oxygen silicon and sodium.