A batholith (from Greek bathos, depth + lithos, rock) is a large emplacement of

igneous intrusive (also called plutonic) rock that forms from cooled magma deep in
the Earth's crust. Batholiths are almost always made mostly of felsic or intermediate
rock-types, such as granite, quartz monzonite, or diorite (see also granite dome).

Formation
Although they may appear uniform, batholiths are in fact structures with complex
histories and compositions. They are composed of multiple masses, or plutons,
bodies of igneous rock of irregular dimensions (typically at least several kilometers)
that can be distinguished from adjacent igneous rock by some combination of
criteria including age, composition, texture, or mappable structures. Individual
plutons are crystallized from magma that traveled toward the surface from a zone
of partial melting near the base of the Earth's crust.
Traditionally, these plutons have been considered to form by ascent of relatively
buoyant magma in large masses called plutonic diapirs. Because the diapirs are
liquified and very hot, they tend to rise through the surrounding native "country"
rock, pushing it aside and partially melting it. Most diapirs do not reach the surface
to form volcanoes, but instead slow down, cool, and usually solidify 5 to 30
kilometers underground as plutons (hence the use of the word pluton; in reference
to the Roman god of the underworld Pluto). It has also been proposed[who?] that
plutons commonly are formed not by diapiric ascent of large magma diapirs, but
rather by aggregation of smaller volumes of magma that ascended as dikes.[citation
needed]
A batholith is formed when many plutons converge to form a huge expanse of
granitic rock. Some batholiths are mammoth, paralleling past and present
subduction zones and other heat sources for hundreds of kilometers in continental
crust. One such batholith is the Sierra Nevada Batholith, which is a continuous
granitic formation that makes up much of the Sierra Nevada in California. An even
larger batholith, the Coast Plutonic Complex is found predominantly in the Coast
Mountains of western Canada, and extends for 1,800 kilometers and reaches into
southeastern Alaska.
Surface expression and erosion [edit]
A batholith is an exposed area of (mostly) continuous plutonic rock that covers an
area larger than 100 square kilometers (40 square miles). Areas smaller than 100
square kilometers are called stocks. However, the majority of batholiths visible at
the surface (via outcroppings) have areas far greater than 100 square kilometers.
These areas are exposed to the surface through the process of erosion accelerated
by continental uplift acting over many tens of millions to hundreds of millions of
years. This process has removed several tens of square kilometers of overlying rock
in many areas, exposing the once deeply buried batholiths.
Batholiths exposed at the surface are subjected to huge pressure differences
between their former location deep in the earth and their new location at or near
the surface. As a result, their crystal structure expands slightly and over time. This
manifests itself by a form of mass wasting called exfoliation. This form of erosion
causes convex and relatively thin sheets of rock to slough off the exposed surfaces
of batholiths (a process accelerated by frost wedging). The result: fairly clean and
rounded rock faces. A well-known result of this process is Half Dome, located in
Yosemite Valley.
List of batholiths
Africa
Aswan Granite Batholith
Cape Coast Batholith, Ghana
Hook granite massif, Zambia
Paarl Rock, South Africa

Europe

Leinster Batholith
Cornubian batholith
Ljusdal Batholith
Mt-Louis-Andorra Batholith

North America

Boulder Batholith
British Virgin Islands
Chambers-Strathy Batholith
Enchanted Rock
Golden Horn Batholith
Idaho Batholith
Sierra Nevada Batholith
South Mountain Batholith, Nova Scotia
Peninsular Batholith
Stone Mountain
Pike's Peak Granite Batholith
Chilliwack batholith

Oceania

Moruya Batholith
Median Batholith, New Zealand

South America

Peruvian Coastal Batholith

Cordillera Blanca Batholith
Chilean Coastal Batholith
Panguipulli Batholith
Patagonian Batholith

Northern Patagonian Batholith

Southern Patagonian Batholith

India/Tibet

Trans-Himalayan Batholith
Karakorum Batholith