Granite, coarse- or medium-grained intrusive igneous rock that is rich in quartz and feldspar; it is the most common plutonic rock of the Earth’s crust, forming by the cooling of magma (silicate melt) at depth. Granite is made of large mineral grains (its name is Latin for "granum," or "grain") that fit tightly together. Granite always consists of the minerals quartz and feldspar, with or without a wide variety of other minerals (accessory minerals). The quartz and feldspar generally give granite a light color, ranging from pinkish to white. That light background color is punctuated by the darker accessory minerals. Thus, classic granite has a "salt-and-pepper" look. The most common accessory minerals are the black mica biotite and the black amphibole hornblende.
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