noun
- Plural of granophyre; igneous rocks with a fine-grained texture composed of quartz and feldspar in a granular intergrowth pattern.
Usage: geology; technical term; also called graphic granite or pegmatitic granite when coarser
Examples
- Granophyres are commonly found in the cooling margins of granite intrusions.
- The thin sections of granophyres reveal the characteristic interlocking quartz and feldspar crystals.
- Geologists study granophyres to understand the crystallization history of igneous bodies.
- These granophyres formed as the magma cooled rapidly near the contact zone.
- The granophyres in this outcrop display excellent examples of graphic texture.