Granitic rocks are a major component of the continental crust and the many and complex problems of their origin that have challenged geologists over some 200 years still are presenting challenges today. Current ideas of granite formation involve lower crustal melting, segregation, ascent (as dykes or diapirs) and emplacement in the upper crust.In this book we suggest an alternative model for the origin of granite in terms of in-situ meltingintracrustal convection that physically determines the process from partial melting of mid-upper crustal rocks to formation of a convecting magma layer. We illustrate the model using the geological, geochemical and geophysical studies from Australia, North and South America, Europe and China, and conclude that heat convection within a crustal partial melting layer is essential for formation of granite magma and that without convection, partial melting of rocks produces migmatites rather than granites.

This book reviews current ideas explaining the formation of granite in terms of melting, segregation, ascent and emplacement. It introduces an alternative hypothesis that granites are endogenic in that they essentially form and remain at melting sites in the middle upper crust under conditions of abnormally high heat flow. The book highlights results of Chinese research over the last 30 years in English for the first time.