GRANULITE
Granulite is a term that modern metamorphic geologists don't appear to like or
use for a rock type any more. Traditionally, granulites were considered
to be very high-grade metamorphic rocks having a medium- to coarsely-crystalline
texture with ~same-sized crystals. Granulites lack obvious foliation at a
fine scale, but some do show a weak gneissic foliation at a coarse scale (see
"Toasted Almond Granite" below). Several "granites" sold
in the decorative stone trade are actually granulites.
Granulite (“Kashmir White Granite”) - this attractive garnetiferous granulite
from India was metamorphosed during the early Mesoproterozoic (~1.4 billion
years ago). The rock has feldspar (white), quartz (grayish), garnet (deep
red), and biotite mica (black). This material is quarried at several
localities near Melur Taluk (for example, Keelavalavu, Malampatti, Navinipatti,
and Tirukalambur), Madurai District, southern Tamil Nadu State in the
far-southern Eastern Ghats Orogenic Belt of far-southern India.
Granulite (“Toasted Almond Granite” or “Ghibli Granite”) - this is another
Proterozoic-aged granulite from India's Eastern Ghats Orogenic Belt. It
comes from near the city of Ghibli, Tamil Nadu State, southern India.
Note the slightly elongated crystals that give the rock a subtle foliation
extending from the top to the bottom of the photo.