Abstract

How are granite magmas transported from their source regions in the deep crust, through 10–40 km of overlying solid rock and emplaced close to the Earth's surface? What are the mechanical processes that allow this to take place and how long does it all take? These problems have challenged and preoccupied geologists since the days of Hutton. In the ensuing 200 years or so, a range of ideas from the plausible to the eccentric have been put forward to explain the granite phenomenon. As a result of developments in our understanding of the physical behaviour of granitic magmas and their host rocks over the last decade, we are now in a position to begin to offer some more informed and realistic models of the processes involved.