FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY OWERRI P.M.

B 1526 OWERRI IMO STATE

AN ASSIGNMENT ON

FEATURES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF OLDER GRANITES

BY

DIALA GERALD C. 20101744345

DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY SUBMITTED TO

PROF. AGUMANU A. E.
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT OF THE COURSE GLY 324(GEOLOGY OF NIGERIA) MAY, 2013

INTRODUCTION Granite is one of the most durable stones used in artistic and architectural applications, including outdoor sculpture. Granite is defined by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) as a "visibly granular, igneous rock generally ranging in color from pink to light or dark grey, and consisting mostly of quartz and feldspars, accompanied by one or more dark minerals". However, the older granite has some features which differ from the younger ones. Below is a list of the feature which differentiates the older granites from the younger ones. Ten features of older granite 1. Older granites are high level intrusions emplaced by stoping and diapiric process 2. Drill marks for splitting are often visible on older granites 3. They generally have sawn edges and split tops 4. Some are curved, and can be used for foot-bridges or planting beds. 5. They experience slow cooling of their magmatic melt, resulting in mineralogical features such as the occurrence of large whitish to pinkish megacryst and rhomps of microcline 6. They Contain metamorphosed sediments invaded by concordant syntectonic bodies 7. They are supracrustal in nature 8. They are oval or dome shaped in nature 9. The elongation of granitoid bodies in the N-S to NE-SW direction is a characteristic that is also associated with the Older Granite suites 10.The rocks are coarse to very coarse textured or porphyritic in nature.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OLDER GRANITE ON 1. Emplacement To explain their emplacement, it is first necessary to obtain an understanding of their origin. In many places, emplacement of granite plutons is synchronous to volcanic eruptions. granite was emplaced as a liquidus magma. Chemically, there is similarity in the composition of many granite plutons to their extrusive associates, the andecite-dacite-rhyolite series of rocks. This suggests there is some kind of relationship between the emplacement of granite plutons and volcanism. The Older Granite of Nigeria includes a wide spectrum of rocks varying in composition from tonalite through granodiorite to granite, syenite and charnockite rocks. The granitoids have been emplaced into both the migmatitegneiss complex and the schist belts, and they occur in all parts of Nigeria. The origin of emplaced granitic magma is diverse and mechanisms used to explain its emplacement varied. As techniques for studying granite become more refined, a greater understanding of them will result. 2. Spatial Distribution The spatial distribution of individual granitic intrusions at depth does not affect the accuracy of geological interpretations of gravity and magnetic data over the entire granitic body. Mapping slope failure forms can enable the model of spatial distribution to be tested on older granites. 3. Texture Older granites primary textures are distinctly observable in both polished and thin sections despite the fact that the original igneous mineralogy of the rock has been invariable altered to some degree due to slight metamorphism and
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hydrothermal/deuteric alterations. The overall texture of the rock as seen in most outcrops is best describe as predominantly hypidiomorphic granoblastic and the dominant mineral components of the rock include quartz, plagioclase, microcline and biotite and are not granular in texture but smooth and polished 4. Petrology An important problem of older granite petrology is the identication of heat sources, causing large scale melting of crustal rocks producing granitoid magmas. Henk et al. (2000) envisaged four potential heat sources in the (1) radiogenic production from the decay of U, Th, K in thickened crustal rocks; (2) advection of heat by exhumation of deeply buried hot rocks; (3) advection of heat by intrusion of mantle derived melts; (4) conduction of heat from a hotter than normal mantle. 5. Tectonics Older granite tectonic conditions are related in time and space to the activities of within plate provinces. Their localization is related to major crustal boundaries and faults. The immediate cause of older granites collecting and rising in huge stocks and batholiths is thought to be the stretching apart, or extension, of a continent during plate tectonics. This explains how such large volumes of granite can enter the upper crust without exploding, shoving or melting their way upward. And it explains why the activity at the edges of plutons appears to be generally gentle and why their cooling is so slow.

6. Economic Importance The exploitation of older granites commences in the early 60s. quarry exploitation is an important aspect. They are produced for the use in house building.

REFERENCES Ajibade, A.C., (1982), The Origin of the Older Granite of Nigeria: Some evidence from the Zungeru region. Nigeria Jour. Of Min. and Geol., 19, 223-230. Bassey E. E. (2012). Granitoids of the older granite suites in Southeastern Nigeria. Department of Geology, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria. Pp. 994 1007. Fitches, W. R., Ajibade, A. C. , Egbuniwe, I. G., Holt, R. W. , and Wright, J. B. (1985), Late Proterozoic Schist belts and Plutonism in NW Nigeria. Jour. Of Geol. Soc. London, 142, pp. 319- 337. Fred. H. (1985). Late Proterozoic schist belts and plutonism in NW Nigeria. Journal of the Geological Society, v. 142, no. 2, p.319-337 http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/content/62/10/1151.abstract http://www.geologynet.com/granite1.htm http://www.jgeosci.org/content/jgeosci.115_blecha.pdf http://www.pelagiaresearchlibrary.com/advances-in-applied-science/vol3iss2/AASR-2012-3-2-994-1007.pdf http://www.thecremationurnstore.com/Old-Granite_ep_43-1.html Robert Greenwood (1950). Younger Intrusive Rocks Of Plateau Province, Nigeria, Compared With The Alkalic Rocks Of New England. Geological Survey of Nigeria, Bulletin. Truswell , J.F., Cope, R.N. (1963). The geology of parts of Niger and Zaria provinces, Northern Nigeria. Bulletin No. 29. Published by Geological Survey of Nigeria. pp.17-22.
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