Rhyolite can be considered as the extrusive equivalent to the plutonic granite rock and consequently outcrops of rhyolite may bear a resemblance to granite.
Rhyolite vs granite.
Due to their high content of silica and low iron and magnesium contents rhyolitic magmas form highly viscous lavas.
Certain differences between rhyolite and granite are noteworthy.
Muscovite a common mineral in granite occurs very rarely and only as an alteration product in rhyolite.
A great excess of potassium over sodium uncommon in granite except as a consequence of hydrothermal alteration is not uncommon in rhyolites.
As nouns the difference between granite and rhyolite is that granite is rock a group of igneous and plutonic rocks composed primarily of feldspar and quartz usually contains one or more dark minerals which may be mica pyroxene or amphibole granite is quarried for building stone road gravel decorative stone and tombstones common colors are gray white pink and yellow brown while rhyolite is geology an igneous volcanic extrusive rock of felsic composition with aphanitic to.
Granite is available in black grey orange pink white colors whereas rhyolite is available in grey white light black colors.
Rhyolite is the felsic igneous rock with fine grained size.
They have very similar compositions but one is erupted onto earth s surface and the other crystallises at depth.
In most granites the alkali feldspar is a soda poor microcline or microcline perthite.
The difference is the size of grains.
Hardness of granite and rhyolite is 6 7.
The difference is that granite sits on the plutonic diagram and rhyolite sits on the volcanic diagram.
Whereas granite is the equivalent in composition but with coarse grained size.
So they have a similar composition but one is volcanic and the other is plutonic.
In most rhyolites however it is sanidine not infrequently rich in soda.