A working definition of granite
The term granite, as it's used commercially, is a piece of a regular time period. Now I'm no longer a geologist but I do have an understanding of the essential geology that is going into the dimensional stone that ends up in peoples' houses.
Granite's commonly normal to be an igneous rock composed on the whole of silica that's fashioned in the mantle of the earth as magma receives squeezed among cracks in the earth's crust. As a liquid at that point, the magma attempts to upward thrust to the floor. It cools very slowly and below very high pressure then bureaucracy what are called batholiths --basically massive domes that lie below the floor of the earth. These massive formations are exposed later via the movements of erosion and thrust faulting. Due to the high stress underneath which the magma cooled, the factor minerals in it (quartz, feldspar, aluminum oxide, iron oxide, and so forth.) can crystallize. That crystallization is what makes granite granite.
I bring that up because of this granite right here, normally known as Baltic Brown.
You can see from this near up that Baltic Brown has circular crystals in it. They are in various sizes however maximum of them are about inches in diameter. Those spherical crystals are crafted from potassium feldspar and that they shaped approximately a gazillion years ago as some magma cooled under what's now Finland.
About eight years ago I got into it with a salesperson at a granite wholesaler who claimed that those spherical shapes have been the remains of a stand of younger trees that have been run over through a lava go with the flow and were given fossilized in the method. People who do not apprehend what they're promoting are a pet peeve. Claiming to have fossils in a slab of granite goes past no longer knowing and crosses the road into the idiotic. I don't assume granite salespeople if you want to rattle off the names of the element minerals that make up what they're promoting, but a few fundamental know-how is maximum really in order.
Granite that finally ends up as counters receives cut into slabs and polished. From the reduce stone, you get a without a doubt fine pass segment of the crystal shape of a specific granite. Those crystals are wherein granite receives its sparkle and depth. A granite that changed into left to its personal gadgets because it cooled and fashioned over the millennia may have a pretty regular sample and colour.
But while granite's without a doubt moving as it cools, or if it runs into water, all kinds of things show up to it. A lot of times granite will run into other forms of rock as it movements, so it's going to have incursions of schist and skarn and a bunch of other substances in it. A lot of times water will make iron oxide gravitate into cracks within the rock. Every aspect mineral in a granite has its own traits and reactions and that non-uniformity is at the basis of granite's appeal. The slab under has incursions in addition to traces of iron oxide in it.
It's an thrilling stone as a stone, but it's lots to attempt to tug off in a kitchen counter. I mean, it's pretty loud. Something like that I'd want to dangle on a wall to recognize. It tells a definitely compelling tale but it's now not something I'd want to look in certainly one of my kitchen tasks.
Patterns like that granite above are still pretty popular although that recognition has crested and is starting to wane. People are beginning to look for different materials to use as counters and that's what I'll be writing approximately all week. Woo-hoo!
But in the interim, if you like granite then get granite. Don't believe the memories of its propensity to stain or crack or even be radioactive. Almost every negative you pay attention about granite is chatter generated through a aggressive marketplace. I actually have never truly visible a person stain or crack a granite counter. Nor have I ever heard of a person who needed to reseal their counters. The radon hype is but some other non-tale generated through the solid floor human beings to prop up their decidedly inferior products. Granite is tougher than pretty much anything it will are available contact with and it'll retain to look as appropriate because it did the day it went in for the rest of the time you have got it.
But let's take a look at some alternatives anyways. Tomorrow's going to be marble and the metamorphics.