Identify Marble Rock

Marble can be scratched with a metal blade.

Identify marble rock.

Very pure recrystallized calcite original rock. The key to identifying marble is noticing the large crystals that seem randomly distributed since it is a non foliated form of metamorphic rock. Marble is usually a light colored rock. You will be surprised how much damage the older used marbles often have.

Because of this the surface of marble shows scratches and wear. The visible crystals in marble give it a characteristic granular surface and appearance but there are other properties used to identify the rock. When you crush a rock its powder isn t always the same color as the rock itself and this powder can help identify the minerals in the rock. It gets its unique coloring textures and veins from the metamorphic change that the limestone undergoes regarding its marble effect and mineral composition.

Physical properties of marble physical properties of rocks are used to identify the type of rocks and to discover more about them. Marble that contains impurities such as clay minerals iron oxides or bituminous material can be bluish gray pink yellow or black in color. There are various physical properties of marble like hardness grain size fracture streak porosity luster strength etc which defines it. You can conduct a streak test with a piece of unglazed porcelain the back of a porcelain tile is ideal.

You obviously don t want to crush your rock if you think it s valuable but that isn t necessary. 6 check whether the rock is slate by looking for flat sheet layers. While identifying a marble look with a magnifying glass to see if it has eyelashes or little dings. The colored bands called veins that give marble its characteristic swirled appearance are caused by mineral impurities.

Holing these samples up to the light and slowly turning them will reveal a slight sparkle. This coarse grained metamorphosed limestone ranges in color from white to gray to pink. Medium to coarser grained light coloured and calcite crystals may be visible. When it is formed from a limestone with very few impurities it will be white in color.

Since condition is related to value it is helpful to identify the condition along with the kind of marbles. Marble can vary widely in color but the most common colors are white and grey. Limestone or dolostone environment. Marble is considered to be a strong hard stone even though its primary mineral calcite only has a mohs hardness of 3.

Authentic marble is a metaphoric rock formed by applying heat to limestone forming crystals of calcite a relatively soft mineral.