Rhodium Bahia Granite

Rhodium Bahia Granite, belonging to a material group from Brazil commonly referred to as granite on the trade market, stands out for its distinctive structure of colorful pebbles in natural shades, quarried in the Bahia state of Brazil. Despite sharing many characteristics with granite, such as being very hard and wear-resistant, Rhodium Bahia Granite is not classified as granite. Unlike granite, which is an igneous rock formed from volcanic activity, Rhodium Bahia Granite is a conglomerate, a type of sedimentary rock composed of individual rounded rocks, known as clasts, cemented together by a fine-grained material called matrix.

This particular stone, known as a polymict-conglomerate, consists of pebbles of different sizes, each made of various minerals. The unique structure of Rhodium Bahia Granite is a result of glacial erosion. Imagine a massive glacier, thousands of meters high and dozens or hundreds of kilometers wide, slowly moving from the mountains to the valley. As the glacier moves, it tears off large chunks of mountain, which are then broken down, rounded, and smoothed into relatively large, round rock fragments known as clasts. Additionally, the glacier produces tiny, microscopic pieces that form sand mud, eventually turning into the matrix that cements the clasts together.

When the glacier reaches shallower areas, melting ice forms moraines, acting as disposal sites for mud and stones. Within this mud matrix, the clasts become embedded and covered by sludge. Over millions of years, the mass experiences tremendous pressure, earthquakes, and movements of the earth's crust, further shaping and compacting the conglomerate into the distinct Rhodium Bahia Granite we see today.