Is Basalt More Common Than Granite

Excluding the rocks between my ears i d have to say that basalt and granite have the honor of being the most important rocks in the crust.

Is basalt more common than granite.

Compared to the familiar granite of the continents basalt ba salt is darker denser and finer grained. Basalt underlies more of earth s surface than any other rock type. 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. It is mostly made out of quartz mica and feldspar.

Basalt is the dark heavy volcanic rock that makes up most of the world s oceanic crust. Basalt extrusive igneous volcanic rock that is low in silica content dark in color and comparatively rich in iron and magnesium. Earth contains three kinds of rocks namely igneous rocks sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks basalt and granite are two types of igneous rocks. Most areas within earth s ocean basins are underlain by basalt.

The fine grained equivalent of gabbro is basalt. Some of it erupts on land too but to a first approximation basalt is an oceanic rock. Rhyolite is considerably more common than granite. Another reason is the internal crystalline structure of the silicate minerals.

The tholeiitic and the alkali basalts. Basalt and granite actually have quite a bit in common. Basalt is a common extrusive igneous rock formed by the rapid cooling of basaltic lava exposed at or very near the surface of earth. Therefore more basalt than gabbro and more granite than rhyolite.

Basalt is an igneous volcanic rock that forms commonly in oceanic crust and parts of continental crust. Although basalt is much less common on continents lava flows and flood basalts underlie several percent of earth s land surface. Granite is a felsic rock meaning that it has a high silicon content. You can also know more about granite and basalt reserves.

Basalt is a very important rock. Basalt is the most common continental crustal rock. Lava is magma on the earth surface. All rocks of igneous origin consist of magma or molten earth that finds its way up to.

Its high iron content gives it magnetic properties and it may show signs of rust when exposed to air. Both are igneous rocks which means that they cooled from a magma the earth gets very hot just below the surface and there is lots of liquid rock. It forms from lava flows which extrude onto the surface and cool. Summary of basalt vs.

Basalt as a mafic rock contains more calcium oxide manganese oxide and iron compounds than granite. Extrusive rocks cool slowly creating coarse grained igneous rocks. Granite is a very hard granular crystalline igneous rock which consists mainly of quartz mica and feldspar and is often used as building stone. Learn more about basalt in this article.