Yosemite Valley - El Captain Granite

Granite dominates the geology of Yosemite National Park. The park boundary perfectly frames a landscape that is composed almost entirely of granite, and it’s no surprise that this landscape contains some of the most iconic rock formations on earth.  Granite is an intrusive igneous rock, which means it crystallized from molten rock, called magma, miles underground. At these depths, magma is insulated by the rocks around it and cools very slowly, growing large interlocking crystals. Granite is often said to have a "salt-and-pepper" appearance: the lighter-colored minerals are quartz, potassium feldspar, and plagioclase feldspar, and the darker-colored minerals are mostly biotite and hornblende. There are also minor amounts of various accessory minerals such as titanite and zircon.