Granite, like most stones, can be found in several varieties. At first glance they look almost the same or very similar, but they differ in their specificity. This, in turn, is determined by the area of occurrence of a given raw material and atmospheric factors influencing its formation. The subject is very interesting, so we decided to devote a separate article to it. In the further part of the text you will find all the details.
Granite varieties:
- Hebrew (or inscription) – these are overgrowths in the places where pegmatites meet the mother rock. After polishing, a drawing is created on the surface, which resembles a rune or Hebrew writing. It usually appears in magma rocks.
- Karkonosze – occurs in the Western Sudetes. It is built of several other granite varieties. The time of its creation dates back to late Carboniferous. It has a clear blow in three perpendicular planes, so it is quite easily extracted. It has quite large grains of various colors such as pink, white, black, grey, etc., which makes it look very decorative. It also contains pegmatite bodies, minerals, aplite and quartz veins. Karkonosze granite is not only found in the Sudetes. It can also be found in the Jizera Mountains, Karkonosze, Jelenia Góra Valley and Rudawa Janowicka. It has been mined in Silesia and the Czech Republic for centuries.
- Strzegom – is the main rock forming the Strzegom massif. It has a light grey colour, open-crystalline structure and non-directional texture. Its composition includes plagioclasts, quarks and biotite. There are also pegmatite bodies, grindings composed of dark minerals as well as quartz and aplite veins. Its origins date from 280-290 million years. It has been in use for centuries and is used for the construction of monuments, railway stations, buildings, squares, etc. It was from it that the Sigismund Column in Warsaw, the Wyspiański monument, the monument of Władysław Jagiełło, the Central Station in Warsaw and the Warsaw Piłsudski Square were built.
- Strzelin – its name comes from the town of Strzelin, and it itself is a part of the shooting range. It was created in the vestibule (upper Carboniferous). It has a grey shade and is available in three varieties: fine-grained biotite granite, fine-grained biotite and muscovite granite, medium-grained biotite granite. It has a wide range of applications. In Poland, it was used, among others, St. Gotard’s Rotunda in Strzelin, the Palace of Culture and Science, and the Monument to Warsaw Heroes was built from it.
- Rapakiwi – comes from Finland, but is also present in Sweden and Russia. It is a deep magma rock with a reddish-brown shade and uneven texture. It consists of red or pinkish-red potassium feldspar surrounded by an oligoclase perimeter. The whole is intersected by the suffixes of quartzite, hornblend and biotite. Already in the Middle Ages it was used to build churches.
- Adamellite (or monzonite granite) – is a deep rock with an acid reaction. It consists of biotite, quartz, plagioclazes and potassium feldspars. In Poland it occurs in Lower Silesia.