Marble is a metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly

of calcite (a crystalline form of calcium carbonate, CaCO3). It is extensively used for sculpture,
as a building material, and in many other applications. The word 'marble' is colloquially used to
refer to many other stones that are capable of taking a high polish.
Marble (from the Greek marmairein, to sparkle), a compact rock which, in its pure form, is
composed entirely of carbonate of limestone. It is seldom found in perfect purity, the tractable
qualities of the limestone allowing the inroduction of many foreign substances during its
formation. Thus there wil be senn marble streaks of various colors running through it, caused by
the action of oxide of iron or other chemicals. Almost any limestone rock is commonly called
marble, even certain varieties of granite, onyx, porphyry and rock largely composed of gneiss
and mica-schist. True marble is a metamorphic equvalent of limestone, from which it has been
produced by heat or preassure, or both.

Origins: Marble is a metamorphic rock resulting from regional or at times contact

metamorphism of sedimentary carbonate rocks, either limestone or dolostone. This
metamorphic process causes a complete recrystallization of the original rock into an interlocking
mosaic of calcite and/or dolomite crystals. The temperatures and pressures necessary to form
marble usually destroy any fossils and sedimentary textures present in the original rock.
Pure white marble is the result of metamorphism of very pure limestones. The characteristic
swirls and veins of many colored marble varieties are usually due to various mineral impurities
such as clay, silt, sand, iron oxides, or chert which were originally present as grains or layers in
the limestone. Green coloration is often due to serpentine resulting from originally high
magnesium limestone or dolostone with silica impurities. These various impurities have been
mobilized and recrystallized by the intense pressure and heat of the metamorphism.

Ancient times: Marble has been a favorite stone for forming into statuary and for decorative
work in buildings and monuments, from the very earliest ages. The Greeks, who were the first to
endow statuary and bas-reliefs, were blessed with an almost inexhaustible supply of very finest
and purest marble. The “Venus de Medeci” was from this stone, which is almoast perfectly
white. The Parthenon was built of marble of Pentelicus, which was a little more finely grained.
Places named after the stone include Marble Hill, Manhattan, New York; the Sea of Marmara;
India's Marble Rocks; and the towns of Marble, Minnesota; Marble, Colorado; and Marble Arch,
London. The Elgin Marbles are marble sculptures from the Parthenon that are on display in the
British Museum. They were brought to Britain by the Earl of Elgin.

Kinds of marble: Some historically important kinds of marble, named after the locations of their
quarries, include:
 Paros from Greece or Parian marble is a fine-grained semitranslucent pure-white
marble quarried during the classical era on the Greek island of Paros. It was highly prized by the
ancient Greeks for making sculptures. Some of the greatest masterpieces of ancient Greek
sculpture were carved from Parian marble, including the Medici Venus and the Winged Victory
of Samothrace. Another meaning for Parian Marble is a tablet, otherwise known as the Parian
Chronicle or the Marmor Parium, which is the earliest extant example of a Greek chronological
table. It has been in Oxford since 1667, and is one of the greatest treasures of the Ashmolean
Museum. The original quarries, which were used from the 6th century BC onwards, can still be
seen on the north side of the island on the slopes of its central peak.
 Penteli from Greece which was used for the construction of the Acropolis and other
buildings of ancient Athens. Penteli marble is flawless white with a uniform, faint yellow tint,
which makes it shine with a golden hue under sunlight. The ancient quarry is protected by law
and used exclusively to obtain material for the Acropolis Restoration Project. The roadway used
to transport marble blocks from the quarry to the Acropolis in antiquity is a continual downhill
and follows the natural lay of the land; it has been researched and fully documented in the book
"From Pentelicon to the Parthenon".
 Carrara from Italy white marbles, like Carrara, have been prized for sculpture since
classical times. This preference has to do with the softness and relative isotropy and
homogeneity, and a relative resistance to shattering. Also, the low index of refraction of calcite
allows light to penetrate several millimeters into the stone before being scattered out, resulting
in the characteristic "waxy" look which gives "life" to marble sculptures of the human body. This
marble has been famous since the time of Ancient Rome; the Pantheon and Trajan's Column in
Rome are constructed of it. Many famous sculptures of the Renaissance, such as
Michelangelo's David, were carved from Carrara marble. For Michelangelo at least, Carrara
marble was valued above all else, except perhaps that of his own quarry in Pietrasanta. Marble
Arch in London and the Duomo di Siena are also made from this well regarded stone. The
marbles of Carrara were even then known but not generally put in use till later years, being still
among the finest marble in the world, though having some gray streaks.
 Proconnesus from Turkey Marmara is a Turkish island in the Sea of Marmara. In
ancient times, the island was called Proconnesus. It is famous for its marble.
 Macael from Spain
 Makrana from India is a town in Nagaur district of Indian state of Rajasthan. Makrana is
famous for marble mined from the mines around it. It is said that Taj Mahal was built from
Makrana marble. Makrana is a small town but quite rich in its marble reserves. The main
occupation of residents of the town revolves totally around marble mining. These quarries are
owned by people since long with the most common sizes of the quarry being 100×200 ft in area
others range from 50×50 ft up to 400×400 ft. One of the largest quarries is of the size 1355×200
ft.
 Danby from Vermont
 Yule from Colorado is found in the West Elk Mountains of Colorado near the town of
Marble, Colorado (39°4′20″N, 107°11′22″W). It is famous for its uniform pure white consistency,
lacking, for the most part, the gray streaking commonly found in other marble such as that found
in Vermont. The rock is named for George Yule, a mining engineer who discovered and realized
the value of the marble deposit. The Yule Marble deposit is among the largest in the world and,
at 99.5% pure calcite, it is one of the purest marbles ever quarried. Yule Marble was declared
the official Colorado state rock in 2004.

Manufacture: In many other parts of Continental Europe and in Great Britain are quarries of
fairly pure marble. America has a large supply of this useful stone. Each year new occurrences
of it are found in the Rocky Mountains, some of them pure white, others with variegated
colorings. In the eastern part of the United States there are many quarries of marble which have
been use for many years. Vermont is probably the seat of largest quarries.
One ancient method of mining this delicate stone, still used entirely by the Mexicans in
mining onyx, is to drill holes in a line, insert plugs of some porous wood, pour in water and allow
the wood to swell. This gently forces the precious stone free, without the least injury.
The quarrying of marble is now carried on extensively, the use of machinery largely taking
the place of the ancient hand methods. Fifty years ago the quarries of Rutland, Vermont, still the
largest in the world were operated by ox teams and handwork of the crudest form. To-day,
these vast quarries have an extensive outfit of electric cranes and derricks, which move the
blocks of marble in any desired direction, easily and quickly, one of these traveling cranes
having a carrying capacity for 100,000 pounds. The stone is easily broken to permit the use of
blasting powders of any kind. This method is used some Italian quarries, but causes great waste
of material and is most unsatisfactory.
In the Vermont quarries, a machine called a “channeler” has been found the best for
economical work and has been exclusively adopted. It consists of a row of long chisels set in a
strong, traveling framework. This gang of chisels vibrates up and down, cutting a channel in ant
direction desired in the face of the marble ledge. The channel can be made any reasonable
depth, according to the size of block desired. When this cannel, or groove, is sufficiently long
and deep, the machine is reserved and cross channels are cut and the bottom perforated. Then
wedges are carefully driven in behind the block of stone and it gently falls over, to be lifted by a
crane to the railroad cars or to that part of the quarry devoted to further treatment of the output.
As a rule, the stone is sent in its rough state to the purchaser, who dresses it himself. When
the order for the monument work or some special design in architecture, the marble is treated at
or near the quarry. In thus further treating the product, a toothless saw, or gang of saws, is
used. The block of stone is placed on a horse, or platform, and the saws set at work, the size of
cut being gaged by setting the saws close together, or far apart, as needed. A stream of water
in, which is mixed sea sand or other or other sharp, hard sand falls upon each saw. The friction
of the iron blade, aided by the sand and water, quickly cuts up the marble into any desired
shape. Some marble cutters use saws of wire, but the best seem to be those made of strips of
soft iron one sixteenth of an inch thick and, when new, four inches wide. The marble wears
down one of the saw blades very rapidly. When the blocks are thus sawn into the requisite
shapes by the power gang saws, they are then placed on tables and ground down to size, a
small piece of marble being rotated over them by hand or power, water flowing over the surface
being ground. Faux marble or faux marbling is a wall painting technique that imitates the color
patterns of real marble (not to be confused with paper marbling). Marble dust can be combined
with cement or synthetic resins to make reconstituted or cultured marble.
Construction marble, In the construction trade, the term "marble" is used for any massive,
crystalline calcitic rock (and some non-calcitic rocks) useful as building stone. For example,
Tennessee Marble is really a massive, highly fossiliferous gray to pink to maroon Ordovician
dolostone, known as the Holston Formation by geologists.

Maintenance of finished products: Polish, in the final stages, is given by rubbing with wood or
other soft material, and finally cloth. Much handwork is, of course, necessary with the mallet and
chisel and polisher, but all rough, heavy work, which formerly made marble so costly and hard
to obtain, is now done entirely by electric and steam power. One of the finishing rooms at the
Rutland works, located at Proctor, Vermont, is 1,000 feet long and contains scores of giant gang
saws, cutting up the marble into various shapes. This plant, one of the largest in the world, has
an output of $3,000,000 annually and employs hundreds of men. Most of this output is of white
marble, though brown, gray, green, and other shades are found in profusion.

Cleaning procedures:
 Sculptures and other Services clean stone surfaces with a few drops of neutral cleaner,
stone soap (available at hardware stores or from your stone dealer) or a mild liquid
dishwashing detergent and warm water. Use a clean rag mop on floors and a soft cloth for
other surfaces for best results. Too much cleaner or soap used during cleaning may cause a
film residue and cause streaking to occur on your marble stone product. Never use products
that contain lemon, vinegar or other acids on marble or limestone. Always rinse the surface
thoroughly after washing with the soap solution and dry with a soft cloth. Change the rinse
water frequently. Do not use scouring powders or creams, these products contain abrasives
that may scratch the surface.
 Bath and other Wet Areas in the bath or other wet areas, using a squeegee after each
use can minimize soap scum. To remove soap scum, use a non-acidic soap scum remover
or a solution of ammonia and water (about 1/2-cup ammonia to a gallon of water). Frequent
or over-use of an ammonia solution may eventually dull the surface of the stone.
 Vanity Top Surfaces vanity tops may need to have a penetrating sealer applied. Check
with your installer for recommendations. A good quality marble wax or non-yellowing
automobile paste wax can be applied to minimize water spotting.
 Food Preparation Areas in food preparation areas, the stone may need to have a
penetrating sealer applied. Check with your installer for recommendations. If a sealer is
applied, be sure that it is non-toxic and safe for use on food preparation surfaces. If there
are questions, check with the sealer manufacturer.
 Outdoor Pools and Patios in outdoor pool, patio or hot tub areas, flush with clear water
and use a mild bleach solution to remove algae or moss.

Importance: One quality of marble, not usually recalled is its ability to withstand great heat
safely. In the devastating fire in 1903 at Paterson, New Jersey, buildings built of granite
crumbled and perished. Those of marble still stand, almost as good as ever. It is, use
therefore, becoming more and more general in erecting fireproof buildings in the large cities,
the floors and often the entire inside wall and ceiling being over laid with it.
Some really fine examples of craftsmanship in this line are found in the public buildings
of New York and elsewhere in America, notably the buildings of the Hall of Records and the
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, in New York. In the making of monuments for the
dead, marble is most extensively used. The floors of bathrooms, tops of toilet tables, basins
for washing hands and clothes, tiling of various sorts-all these and a thousand other
household purposes find in marble their chief exponent.
Probably more than $57,000,000 worth finished marble products are used in the United
States annually, made from domestic quarries entirely.
Rizal Technological University
Chem1 EL

MARBLE

A Research Paper Presented to

Prof. R.G. Singson

By:
Alvin E. Bene
July 28, 2006
CEIT-09-101P
 Bibliography

 The Encyclopedia Americana. Published, Danbury, Conn.: Grolier Inc., c1997. Vol.
18, pp.178-179.
 Collier's Encyclopedia. Published, New York: Collier's, c1997.
 http://www.marbleandmore.com/ - 53k
 http://www.marbleweb.net/
 http://www.marblemuseum.org/
 http://en.wikipedia.org/
 http://www.marble-institute.com/