Granite in Whidbey Island, Washington

Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly solidifies underground. It is common in the Earth's continental crust, where it is found in various kinds of igneous intrusions. These range in size from dikes only a few inches across to batholiths exposed over hundreds of square kilometers. Granite is typical of a larger family of granitic rocks that are composed mostly of coarse-grained quartz and feldspars in varying proportions.