Science & Technology: Granite Stored in the Earth's Crust is Partially Molten at 500 Degrees Celsius

Granite crystallizes at temperature 200 degrees lower than previously thought (Eurekalert)

Finding challenges long-held assumptions about common material in continental crusts

Core–rim Ti concentration profiles in quartz
compared with a constant-cooling rate diffusion model.

Evidence from rocks in Yosemite National Park suggests that granite stored in the Earth's crust is partially molten at 500 degrees Celsius, nearly 200 degrees lower than had previously been believed.

The finding, published online today in Nature, challenges long-held assumptions that underlie our views about the state of magma in volcanically active regions, the location of economically important ore deposits, and Earth's geothermal gradient.

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Low-temperature crystallization of granites and the implications for crustal magmatism. Michael R. Ackerson, B. O. Mysen, N. D. Tailby & E. B. Watson
Nature (2018)