What is the difference between igneous rock and basalt

Basalt is an igneous rock aphanitic fine-grained that is relatively low in silica and alkali metals. This kind of igneous rock consists of rock minerals such as porphyritic, phenocrysts containing larger crystals formed before the extrusion that brought the magma to the surface, embedded in a finer-grained matrix. These phenocrysts usually are of augite, olivine, or a calcium-rich plagioclase, which have the highest melting temperatures of the typical minerals that can crystallize from the melt and are therefore the first to form solid crystals.

Basalt is used for a huge variety of purposes. Basalt is cut into dimension stone. The lean slabs of basalt are cut and polished for use as building veneer, monuments, floor tiles, and other stone objects. It is also crushed for use as an aggregate in construction projects. These crushed rocks is used for road base, concrete aggregate, railroad ballast, filter stone in drain fields, asphalt pavement aggregate, and many other purposes. Granite is an igneous rock that is light-colored with grains large enough to be visible with the unaided eye.

It is composed of quartz and feldspar rock-forming mineral with minor amounts of mica, amphiboles, and other minerals. Basalt sometimes also contains vesicles.

Cooling of intrusive rocks takes much longer than extrusive rocks as they are under the surface of the earth. These rocks split along horizontal planes. Of the two, basalt is darker and consists of fine-grained minerals such as magnesium and iron while granite is lighter and consist of feldspar and quartz.

Among other differences, the nature of these rocks reveals that basalt is basic in nature, whereas granite is acidic in nature. On the other hand, granite occurs above the ocean and makes up much of continental crust. Basalt is an extrusive igneous rock, whereas granite is an intrusive ingenuous rock.

One other difference between basalt and granite pertains to the way these two types of rocks split when putting under pressure. While basalt rocks split along columnar planes, granite rocks give way along horizontal planes. Obviously, this difference exists because of differences in the way the two types of rocks cool down. Basalt and granite are two types of igneous rocks that we can find on earth.

Available here 2. Available here. Your email address will not be published. Figure Appearance of Basalt. Igneous rocks are formed by the crystallisation of a magma. The difference between granites and basalts is in silica content and their rates of cooling.

Intrusive , slowly cooled inside the crust. Large crystals. Continental crust Density 2. High silica content acidic. Color from flesh to black. Crystals intermingled. Hard, rigid, tough. Granitic rock is much less common on the other terrestrial planets, a fact having to do with the fractionation where early crystallizing minerals separate fromt he rest of a magma , a process that takes place uniquely on earth, due to the prevalence of plate tectonics. An intermediate form between granite and diorite.