Alkali feldspar in the context of Pluton

Syenite is a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock with a general composition similar to that of granite, but deficient in quartz, which, if present at all, occurs in relatively small concentrations (< 5%). It is considered a granitoid. Some syenites contain larger proportions of mafic components and smaller amounts of felsic material than most granites; those are classed as being of intermediate composition.

The extrusive equivalent of syenite is trachyte.

Granite (/ˈɡræ.nɪt/, GRAN-it) is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground. It is common in the continental crust of Earth, where it is found in igneous intrusions. These range in size from dikes only a few centimeters across to batholiths exposed over hundreds of square kilometers.

Granite is typical of a larger family of granitic rocks, or granitoids, that are composed mostly of coarse-grained quartz and feldspars in varying proportions. These rocks are classified by the relative percentages of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase (the QAPF classification), with true granite representing granitic rocks rich in quartz and alkali feldspar. Most granitic rocks also contain mica or amphibole minerals, though a few (known as leucogranites) contain almost no dark minerals.

In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and compositions, illustrated by examples like the Palisades Sill of New York and New Jersey; the Henry Mountains of Utah; the Bushveld Igneous Complex of South Africa; Shiprock in New Mexico; the Ardnamurchan intrusion in Scotland; and the Sierra Nevada Batholith of California.

Because the solid country rock into which magma intrudes is an excellent insulator, cooling of the magma is extremely slow, and intrusive igneous rock is coarse-grained (phaneritic). Intrusive igneous rocks are classified separately from extrusive igneous rocks, generally on the basis of their mineral content. The relative amounts of quartz, alkali feldspar, plagioclase, and feldspathoid is particularly important in classifying intrusive igneous rocks.

A granitoid is a broad term referring to a diverse group of coarse-grained igneous rocks that are widely distributed across the globe, covering a significant portion of the Earth's exposed surface and constituting a large part of the continental crust. These rocks are primarily composed of quartz, plagioclase, and alkali feldspar. Granitoids range from plagioclase-rich tonalites to alkali-rich syenites and from quartz-poor monzonites to quartz-rich quartzolites. As only two of the three defining mineral groups (quartz, plagioclase, and alkali feldspar) need to be present for the rock to be called a granitoid, foid-bearing rocks, which predominantly contain feldspars but no quartz, are also granitoids.

Trachyte (/ˈtreɪkaɪt, ˈtræk-/) is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava (or shallow intrusions) enriched with silica and alkali metals. It is the volcanic equivalent of syenite.

Trachyte is common wherever alkali magma is erupted, including in late stages of ocean island volcanism and in continental rift valleys, above mantle plumes, and in areas of back-arc extension. Trachyte has also been found in Gale crater on Mars.

Microcline (KAlSi₃O₈) is an important igneous rock-forming tectosilicate mineral. It is a potassium-rich alkali feldspar. It is common in granite and pegmatites. Microcline forms during slow cooling of orthoclase. Sanidine is a polymorph of alkali feldspar stable at yet higher temperature. Microcline has cross-hatch twinning that forms as a result of the transformation of monoclinic orthoclase into triclinic microcline.

The chemical compound name is potassium aluminium silicate, and it is known as E number reference E555.

The mineral anorthoclase ((Na,K)AlSi₃O₈) is a crystalline solid solution in the alkali feldspar series, in which the proportion of the sodium-aluminium silicate member exceeds the potassium-aluminium silicate member. It typically consists of between 64 and 90 percent of NaAlSi₃O₈ and between 10 and 36 percent of KAlSi₃O₈.

Monzonite is an igneous intrusive rock, formed by slow cooling of underground magma that has a moderate silica content and is enriched in alkali metal oxides. Monzonite is composed mostly of plagioclase and alkali feldspar.

Syenodiorite is an obsolescent term for monzonite or for monzodiorite. Larvikite is a particular form of monzonite.

Tonalite is an igneous, plutonic (intrusive) rock, of felsic composition, with phaneritic (coarse-grained) texture. Feldspar is present as plagioclase (typically oligoclase or andesine) with alkali feldspar making up less than 10% of the total feldspar content. Quartz (SiO₂) is present as more than 20% of the total quartz-alkali feldspar-plagioclase-feldspathoid (QAPF) content of the rock. Amphiboles and biotite are common in lesser quantities, while accessory minerals include apatite, magnetite and zircon.

In older references tonalite is sometimes used as a synonym for quartz diorite. However the current IUGS classification defines tonalite as having greater than 20% quartz, while quartz diorite varies its quartz content from 5 to 20%.

Eudialyte, whose name derives from the Greek phrase Εὖ διάλυτος, eu dialytos, meaning "well decomposable", is a somewhat rare, nine-member-ring cyclosilicate mineral, which forms in alkaline igneous rocks, such as nepheline syenites. Its name alludes to its ready solubility in acid.

Eudialyte was first described in 1819 for an occurrence in nepheline syenite of the Ilimaussaq intrusive complex of southwest Greenland.