Basalt and granite are two common igneous rocks. Basalt is a volcanic rock that forms from rapidly cooled lava near the surface. It is usually gray to black in color with a fine-grained texture. Granite is an intrusive rock consisting mainly of quartz, mica, and feldspar, with at least 20% quartz. Granite has a coarse-grained texture and is nearly always massive in structure. Both basalt and granite are widely used as construction materials due to their hardness, strength, and durability.

1. Basalt & Granite

2. Igneous rocks

3. BASALT
o Basalt is a common extrusive igneous (volcanic)
rock formed from the rapid cooling of basaltic
lava exposed at or very near the surface of a planet
or moon.
o By definition, basalt is an aphanitic igneous rock
with less than 20% quartz and less than
10% feldspathoid by volume, and where at least
65% of the feldspar is in the form of plagioclase.

4.  Color:
 Basalt is usually grey to black in color, but rapidly weathers to brown or
rust-red due to oxidation of its mafic (iron-rich) minerals into rust.
Although usually characterized as "dark", basaltic rocks exhibit a wide
range of shading due to regional geochemical processes; indeed some
basalts are quite light colored.
 Texture:
 Basalt almost always has a fine-grained mineral texture due to the
molten rock cooling too quickly for large mineral crystals to grow,
although it can sometimes be porphyritic, containing the larger crystals
formed prior to the extrusion that brought the lava to the surface,
embedded in a finer-grained matrix.

5. Types of basalt rock
 Tholeiitic basalt is relatively rich in silica and
poor in sodium.
 Alkali basalt is relatively poor in silica and rich in
sodium. It is silica-under saturated and may
contain feldspathoids, alkali feldspar and phlogo
pite.
 Boninite is a high-magnesium form of basalt that
is erupted generally in back-arc basins,
distinguished by its low titanium content and
trace element composition.

6. Metamorphism
Basalts are important rocks
within metamorphic belts, as they
can provide vital information on the
conditions of metamorphism
within the belt.
Various metamorphic facies are
named after the mineral
assemblages and rock types formed
by subjecting basalts to the
temperatures and pressures of the
metamorphic event.
Metamorphosed basalts are
important hosts for a variety
of hydrothermal ore deposits,
including gold deposits, copper dep
osits, volcanogenic massive sulfide
ore deposits and others.

7. Granite
Granite is a common type
of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock which is
granular and phaneritic in texture. This
rock consists mainly of quartz, mica,
and feldspar.
By definition, granite is an igneous rock
with at least 20% quartz by volume.
Granite differs from granodiorite in that
at least 35% of the feldspar in granite
is alkali feldspar as opposed
to plagioclase.
Granites sometimes occur in
circular depressions surrounded by a
range of hills, formed by
the metamorphic aureole or hornfels.
Granite is usually found in the
continental plates of the Earth's crust.

8. GraniteGranite is nearly always massive (lacking internal structures),
hard and tough, and therefore it has gained widespread use as a
construction stone. The average density of granite is between
2.65 and 2.75 g/cm3, its compressive strength usually lies above
200 MPa, and its viscosity near STP is 1019 Pa. Melting
temperature is 1215 - 1260 °C.
The word "granite" comes from the Latin granum, a grain, in
reference to the coarse-grained structure of such
a crystalline rock.

9. Mineralogy of granite
 True granite according to modern petrologic convention contains
both plagioclase and alkali feldspars.
 When a granitoid is devoid or nearly devoid of plagioclase, the rock
is referred to as alkali granite.
 When a granitoid contains less than 10% orthoclase, it is
called tonalite; pyroxene and amphibole are common in tonalite.
 A granite containing both muscovite and biotite micas is called a
binary or two-mica granite.
 Two-mica granites are typically high in potassium and low in
plagioclase, and are usually S-type granites or A-type granites.
 The volcanic equivalent of plutonic granite is rhyolite. Granite has
poor primary permeability but strong secondary permeability.

10. Weathering
 When granite and other
similar rocks weather, two
primary effects are seen.
On a large
scale, exfoliation
joints are produced as the
granite weathers.
 On a small scale, grus is
formed as the minerals
within the granite break
apart.

11. Sculpture and memorials
 In some areas granite is
used for gravestones
and memorials.
 Granite is a hard stone
and requires skill to
carve by hand.
 Until the early 18th
century, in the Western
world, granite could
only be carved by hand
tools with generally
poor results.

12.  Granite has been extensively used as a dimension
stone and as flooring tiles in public and
commercial buildings and monuments.
 Engineers have traditionally used polished
granite surface plates to establish a plane of
reference, since they are relatively impervious
and inflexible.

13. Presentation prepared by
MUHAMMAD ADIL
MINING ENGINEERING ,
UET PESHAWAR.