Compare And Contrast Basaltic And Granitic Igneous Rocks

One major difference between basaltic and granitic magma is their specific mineral contents.

Compare and contrast basaltic and granitic igneous rocks.

Basalt is an extrusive igneous rock whereas granite is an intrusive ingenuous rock. Dark colored rocks that contain only olivine and pyroxene are ultramafic rocks. Distinguish among the four basic compositional groups of igneous rocks. Light colored rocks have granitic compositions.

Basalt and granite are similar in the they are both igneous silicate rocks and common on earth. Granite is a medium tocoarse grained acid igneous rock with essential quartz 20 and feldspar where alkali feldspar constitutes between 100 and 35 of the feldspars and minor mafic minerals hornblende and biotite are the commonest mafic minerals however muscovite is also frequently encountered. One other difference between basalt and granite pertains to the way these two types of rocks split when putting under pressure. Dark colored igneous rocks are more basaltic mafic in composition and contain more iron and magnesium.

While basalt rocks split along columnar planes granite rocks give way along horizontal planes. You can also go through the reserves of igneous rocks. We all come across rocks in our day to day life be it a stone pebble sand or just mud. Compare igneous rocks and find the rock with most attractive texture.

Igneous rocks can be classified by composition based on the major minerals in the rocks. Some of the igneous rocks rocks are granite obsidian basalt diorite gabbro. Basaltic describes a dense dark colored igneous rock formed from magma rich in magnesium and iron. Basaltic magma contains between 45 and 55 percent silicon dioxide and is high in magnesium iron and calcium while granitic magma contains between 65 and 75 percent silicon dioxide and only small amounts of those minerals.

Poor in silica granitic describes generally light colored silica rich igneous rock that is. Rocks are also classified on the basis of their hardness which ranges from 1 to 10 on moh s hardness scale as types of hard rocks types of soft rocks and rocks with medium hardness. Dark colored rocks have basaltic compositions. Light colored igneous rocks are more granitic felsic in composition and contain more feldspar and silica.

Basalt is extrusive mafic and common throughout the solar system whereas granite is intrusive felsic and common only on earth. Felsic andesitic mafic and ultramafic composition.