Question

You are holding a coarse-grained crystalline rock with a texture that can be best described as having "interlocking crystals". the minerals present are feldspars, quartz, and mafic minerals. this rock can be classified as:

Answer 1

A coarse-grained crystalline rock with interlocking crystals and composed of feldspars, quartz, and mafic minerals can be classified as granite. Granite is an intrusive igneous rock with larger grains, formed by slow cooling within the Earth.

Step-by-step explanation:

A coarse-grained crystalline rock with interlocking crystals and composed of feldspars, quartz, and mafic minerals can be classified as a granite.

Igneous rocks with larger grains are called intrusive or plutonic rocks, and the magma cools slowly within the Earth, allowing for the formation of larger crystals. In the case of granite, it contains light-colored minerals such as feldspars and quartz.

In contrast, basalt is a fine-grained igneous rock with mostly dark-colored minerals. It forms when the lava cools on the surface of the Earth, resulting in rapid cooling and smaller mineral grains.

Answer 2

This rock can be classified as: an igneous rock.

Igneous rocks are made up of randomly arranged interlocking crystals and the important minerals that can be found in igneous rocks are feldspars, quartz, olivines, pyroxenes, amphiboles, and mafic minerals. All of these minerals are important in the formation of almost all igneous rocks, and they are basic to their classification.