Identify My Rock Marble

They come in various colors and often contain glittery mica.

Identify my rock marble.

Marble is a metamorphic rock that is created when limestone is subjected to a considerable amount of heat and pressure within the earth s crust making it a dense and durable material. Sea water high in magnesium flows through porous limestone and replaces some of the calcium with magnesium turning limestone into dolostone. Marble is one of the most common metamorphic rocks to be used in countertops and can be easily identified by the distinctive veins common in most marble surfaces. You will be surprised how much damage the older used marbles often have.

Non glass marbles marbles have been made from non glass materials such as wood clay and stone for hundreds if not thousands of years. Marble is a metamorphic rock that forms when limestone is subjected to the heat and pressure of metamorphism. Next check the rock s grain size and hardness. Visit this section for a brief history of handmade marble manufacture and to see an image library to help you identify various types of handmade marbles.

Fossils are plants or animals that have been preserved in rock as organic carbon chitin or some mineral that replaced the original tissue. From discrete cream veins in white carrara marble to violet red or blue veins in yellow sienna marble natural marble will show its impurities through long sinewy streaks. Learning the characteristics of marble will help you identify it on sight. They are usually brown to gray in color and may have fossils and water or wind marks.

It is composed primarily of the mineral calcite caco 3 and usually contains other minerals such as clay minerals micas quartz pyrite iron oxides and graphite. The visible crystals in marble give it a characteristic granular surface and appearance but there are other properties used to identify the rock. If you have access to the bottom of the surface look through the magnifying glass for little holes or dents. Marble can be scratched with a metal blade.

These veins form when the marble goes through its molten phase and are often composed of minerals like quartz feldspar or biotite though not every slab of marble has visible veins. Fake marble will show little holes where pockets of air popped from the mixing of plastic resin. Check the condition of the marble too. While identifying a marble look with a magnifying glass to see if it has eyelashes or little dings.

Metamorphic rocks such as marble are tough with straight or curved layers foliation of light and dark minerals. Since condition is related to value it is helpful to identify the condition along with the kind of marbles.