Basalt Granite Density

When we have to compare granite vs basalt the texture color and appearance plays an important role in determining the type of rock.

Basalt granite density.

The trick is to heat the basalt back up again so it can melt and give the iron another shot at the core. Granite is available in black grey orange pink white colors whereas basalt is available in black brown light to dark grey. It is common both on earth and other planetary bodies. Some of it erupts on land too but to a first approximation basalt is an oceanic rock.

Some meteorites have low densities 3 0 g cm 3 but such meteorites are rare among meteorites. Granite is an igneous plutonic rock which is. Its principle minerals include pyroxene feldspar and olivine. Gabbro s density ranges from 2 7 3 3 g cm 3.

The key difference between basalt and granite is that basalt is mostly occurring on ocean floors while granite is in the crust of the earth in all continents. Basalt is an aphanitic fine grained igneous rock that is relatively low in silica and alkali metals it has less than 10 feldspathoid by volume with at least 65 of the rock consisting of feldspar in the form of plagioclase this places basalt in the basalt andesite field of the qapf diagram basalt is further distinguished from andesite by its silica content of less than 52. For example limestone 2 6 g cm 3 or less quartzite 2 7 g cm 3 and granite 2 7 2 8 g cm 3 are all common low density rocks. Sedimentary rocks and granite which are rich in quartz and feldspar tend to be less dense than volcanic rocks.

Compared to the familiar granite of the continents basalt ba salt is darker denser and finer grained. Basalt is an igneous volcanic rock that forms commonly in oceanic crust and parts of continental crust. Rock density is very sensitive to the minerals that compose a particular rock type. And if you know your igneous petrology you will see that the more mafic rich in magnesium and iron a rock is the greater its density.

The density of basalt one of the most common kinds of terrestrial volcanic rocks can be as high as 3 0 g cm 3. It wants to be there and heat is the key which unlocks the door. Earth contains three kinds of rocks namely igneous rocks sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks basalt and granite are two types of igneous rocks. Basaltic crust is dark and thin and heavy while granite is light and accumulates.

It forms from lava flows which extrude onto the surface and cool. And not all granites basalts and gabbros contain exactly the same minerals. Since gabbro and basalt are made of the same minerals their densities are similar.