G R E N V I L L L I A N   G R A N I T O I D S

Photomicrograph of 1000 million year old charnockite (a granitic rock) from the Blue Ridge province. Rock consists on interlocking grains of feldspar (f), orthopyroxene (p), and quartz (q). Field of view 2.5 mm x 1.5 mm, cross polarized light.

Outcrop of charnockite on High Peak, Tobacco Row Mountain, Amherst County

Adjacent outcrop of charnockite, same location as above. As one variety of granite (a granitoid), charnockite can have many different appearances like these two outcrops, half a meter apart.