Rausch Trip To The Cima Dome In the Mojave Desert

My sister and I decided to take a trip to the Mojave Desert to get a view of the mountain known as the Cima Dome.  The magnificence of the Cima Dome is immediately apparent as it is one of the most visible granite structures I've ever seen, considering it is in the middle of open desert plains.  One of the most telling features of this mountain is how smooth the features are; no doubt a result of weathering and erosion of its exposed granitic rocks.  These smooth features are what gives the Cima Dome it's dome-like appearance which led to its name.  As we hiked the Cima Dome, there were many igneous rocks that we found along the trail.  Most of the rocks were granite(due to this mountain being the result of volcanic activity that exploded the rocks to the Earth's surface millions of years ago) but we also found many samples of quartz monzonite.  Quartz monzonite is typically found in areas where volcanic activity was high so it was not a surprise to find some here on the Cima Dome trail.  The appearance of the rock is light-pink colored like rose quartz but quartz monzonite actually contains less quartz than granite.  Any rock that contains less than 5% quartz receives the designation of a monzonite.  A feature of monzonites is that you will notice little black specks throughout the rock which are minerals(usually hornblende and biotite).  The trip to the Cima Dome was not only a fun hike to embark on; it was also a very informative geological trip.