Is Granite A Sedimentary Rocks

They are later known as basement rocks.

Is granite a sedimentary rocks.

Granite belongs to the intrusive category of igneous rock which means it formed below the earth s surface as magma slowly cooled and crystallized. Under sedimentary rocks granites metamorphosed granites or related rocks are usually below this cover. 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. If the granite is exposed on the earth s surface it is caused by the rise of granite rocks and the erosion of the sedimentary rocks above it.

Granite river rocks can have a speckled or banded appearance due to the coarse grains of minerals usually quartz and feldspar that form the granite composite. If they are today exposed at the surface the only way that could happen is if the granite rocks were uplifted and the overlying sedimentary rocks were eroded. In areas where earth s surface is covered with sedimentary rocks granites metamorphosed granites or closely related rocks are usually present beneath the sedimentary cover. Sedimentary rocks are formed by the gradual consolidation of organic or inorganic solid fragments carried by suspended in or dropped by wind water or ice and deposited horizontally in layers.

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock that is worn away by dirt and dust rubbing against it in the wind. 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. 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.

Granite is an example of a felsic intrusive rock while gabbro and diabase are examples of mafic intrusive rocks. Gneiss however is distinguished from granite by its strong fabric and alternating dark and light colored bands. The most important geological processes that lead to the creation of sedimentary rocks are erosion weathering dissolution precipitation and lithification. Definitions used for granite often lead to communication.

In general terms granite is an igneous rock. Much of it was intruded during the precambrian age.