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Test Your Marble IQ
Many of you reading this may think you know your marble types. Anyone who has been in the stone industry for a while should be able to tell marble from granite and limestone, right?

Well take the following test and see how much you really know. MARBLE, GRANITE OR LIMESTONE? Each one of the following stones are either marble, granite or limestone. Place and M for Marble a G for Granite or an L for Limestone next to each line to identify where it fits.

NEGRO MARQUINA _____
ROJO ALICANTE _____
BIANCO CARRARA_____
TRAVERTINE CLASSICO_____
CREMA MARFIL_____
EMPERADOR_____
CHANDORE_____
JERUSALEM STONE_____
ROSATTA_____
How many of the above did you classify as marble?
You may be surprised to discover that only one of the above materials is true marble (see answers ar the end of article). The rest are all limestone, except for Ubatuba, which is a granite.

Many of the materials that we deal with everyday in the stone industry are often mistaken for marble. How many times have you heard someone talk about travertine marble? Why the confusion? To understand the confusion we need to take a close look at the common term "marble" and the geological term "marble".
The history of the word "Marble" is interesting and can explain why it is misused today. "Marble"was derived from the French word "Marbre" which was derived from the Latin word "Marmor". "Marmor" was derived from the Greek word "Marmaros". "Marmaros" is defined as a glittering or sparkling stone. Several other Greek words contribute to the word "Marmaros".
"Marnantai" relates to the crushing and deformation forces of nature as reflected on the surface of certain stone. Now lets take a look at Mr. Webster's definition of marble, which states the following:
1.a: limestone that is more or less crystallized by metamorphism, that ranges from granular to compact in texture, that is capable of taking a high polish, and that is used especially in architecture and sculpture.
1.b: something (as a piece of sculpture) composed of or made from marble.
1.c: something suggesting marble (as in hardness, coldness, or smoothness).
Basically any stone that will take a polish can be called "marble". Now you can see how this gets confusing. Now let's look at "Marble" from a geological point of view.
Geologists are very clear in defining marble. A rock primarily composed of calcite or dolomite and whose structure has been altered by specific geological forces is considered marble.
To confuse the issue even further The American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) defines marble as a crystalline rock capable of taking a polish and composed predominantly of one or more of the following minerals: calcite, dolomite, or serpentine.
ASTM also considers travertine a marble. Travertine is a sedimentary rock and is a limestone, not a marble. An argument can be made that many of these limestones are commercially called marble. That's fine, but now you know the real story.
Fred Hueston,
Technical Editor, Stone Magazine
Ashlee Publishing
18 E. 41st St., New York, NY 10017


Answers:
NEGRO MARQUINA __L__
ROJO ALICANTE __L__
BIANCO CARRARA __M__
TRAVERTINE CLASSICO __L__
CREMA MARFIL __L__
EMPERADOR __L__
CHANDORE _L__
JERUSALEM STONE __L__
ROSATTA __L__

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