A type of igneous rock that forms from cooled magma and has a composition between granite and diorite, containing quartz, feldspar, and darker minerals.
From 'grano-' (grain) + 'diorite' (a darker igneous rock type). Coined in the mid-1800s by geologists who recognized this rock was chemically intermediate between the lighter granite and darker diorite.
Granodiorite is one of the most common rocks in continental crust—much of the Andes and Sierra Nevada are made of it—yet most people have never heard the word because it's hidden beneath our feet in the deep roots of mountains.
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