Marble is a non-foliated metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.
Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.[1]
Marble is commonly used for sculpture and as a building material.
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Etymology [link]
The word "marble" derives from the Greek "μάρμαρον" (mármaron),[2] from "μάρμαρος" (mármaros), "crystalline rock", "shining stone",[3][4] perhaps from the verb "μαρμαίρω" (marmaírō), "to flash, sparkle, gleam".[5] This stem is also the basis for the English word marmoreal, meaning "marble-like."
Whilst the English term resembles the French marbre, most other European languages (e.g. Spanish mármol, Italian marmo, Portuguese mármore, German, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish marmor, Armenian marmar, Dutch marmer, Polish marmur, Turkish mermer, Czech mramor and Russian мрáмор ) follow the original Greek.
Physical origins [link]
Marble is a rock resulting from metamorphism of sedimentary carbonate rocks, most commonly limestone or dolomite rock. Metamorphism causes variable recrystallization of the original carbonate mineral grains.
The resulting marble rock is typically composed of an interlocking mosaic of carbonate crystals. Primary sedimentary textures and structures of the original carbonate rock (protolith) have typically been modified or destroyed.
Pure white marble is the result of metamorphism of a very pure (silicate-poor) limestone or dolomite protolith. 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.
Types [link]
Examples of historically notable marble varieties and locations:
Uses [link]
Sculpture [link]
White marble has been prized for its use in sculptures since classical times. This preference has to do with its softness, 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.
Construction marble [link]
Construction marble is a stone which is composed of calcite, dolomite or serpentine which is capable of taking a polish.[8] More generally in construction, specifically the dimension stone trade, the term "marble" is used for any crystalline calcitic rock (and some non-calcitic rocks) useful as building stone. For example, Tennessee marble is really a dense granular fossiliferous gray to pink to maroon Ordovician limestone that geologists call the Holston Formation.
Production [link]
According to the United States Geological Survey, U.S. dimension marble production in 2006 was 46,400 tons valued at $18.1 million, compared to 72,300 tons valued at $18.9 million in 2005. Crushed marble production (for aggregate and industrial uses) in 2006 was 11.8 million tons valued at $116 million, of which 6.5 million tons was finely ground calcium carbonate and the rest was construction aggregate. For comparison, 2005 crushed marble production was 7.76 million tons valued at $58.7 million, of which 4.8 million tons was finely ground calcium carbonate and the rest was construction aggregate. U.S. dimension marble demand is about 1.3 million tons. The DSAN World Demand for (finished) Marble Index has shown a growth of 12% annually for the 2000–2006 period, compared to 10.5% annually for the 2000–2005 period. The largest dimension marble application is tile.
Pakistan is one of the largest marble exporters of the world [9] with exports totaling to around a 100,000 tonnes per annum. China is the chief importer of marble, specifically Pakistani marble, with imports amounting to more than 70,000 tonnes in a single calendar year.
Artificial marble [link]
Marble dust is combined with cement or synthetic resins to make reconstituted or cultured marble. The appearance of marble can be simulated with faux marbling, a painting technique that imitates the stone's color patterns.
Cultural associations [link]
As the favorite medium for Greek and Roman sculptors and architects (see classical sculpture), marble has become a cultural symbol of tradition and refined taste. Its extremely varied and colorful patterns make it a favorite decorative material, and it is often imitated in background patterns for computer displays, etc.
Places named after the stone include Marblehead, Ohio; Marblehead, Massachusetts; Marble Arch, London; the Sea of Marmara; India's Marble Rocks; and the towns of Marble, Minnesota; Marble, Colorado; Marble Falls, Texas, and Marble Hill, Manhattan, New York. 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.
See also [link]
- Cultured marble, marble powder with a binder.
- International Association of Marble, Slate and Stone Polishers, Rubbers and Sawyers, Tile and Marble setters' Helpers and Marble Mosaic and Terrazzo Workers' Helpers
- faux marbling, painting surfaces to look like marble.
- Marble sculpture
- Paper marbling
- Pietra dura, inlaying with marble and other stones.
- Scagliola, imitating marble with plasterwork.
- Verd antique – sometimes (erroneously) called "serpentine marble"
- Yule Marble
References [link]
- ^ Kearey, Philip (2001). Dictionary of Geology, Penguin Group, London and New York, p. 163. ISBN 978-0-14-051494-0
- ^ μάρμαρον, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
- ^ μάρμαρος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
- ^ Marble, Compact Oxford English Dictionary. Askoxford.com. Retrieved on 2011-09-30.
- ^ μαρμαίρω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
- ^ Pentelic marble – Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Britannica.com. Retrieved on 2011-09-30.
- ^ Paint and Decorate: Sienna marble Retrieved 2012-04-30
- ^ Marble Institute of America pp. 223 Glossary
- ^ https://tribune.com.pk/story/251020/export-earnings-china-largest-importer-of-marble/
External links [link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marble |
- Dimension Stone Statistics and Information – United States Geological Survey minerals information for dimension stone
- USGS 2005 Minerals Yearbook: Stone, Crushed
- USGS 2005 Minerals Yearbook: Stone, Dimension
- USGS 2006 Minerals Yearbook: Stone, Crushed
- USGS 2006 Minerals Yearbook: Stone, Dimension
- Marble Institute of America
- Marble at the Open Directory Project
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Marble, Minnesota
Marble is a city in Itasca County, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the chain of small mining towns known as the Iron Range. The population was 701 at the 2010 census.
U.S. Highway 169 serves as a main route in the community.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.45 square miles (11.53 km2), of which 4.35 square miles (11.27 km2) is land and 0.10 square miles (0.26 km2) is water.
Demographics
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 701 people, 281 households, and 174 families residing in the city. The population density was 161.1 inhabitants per square mile (62.2/km2). There were 315 housing units at an average density of 72.4 per square mile (28.0/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 93.4% White, 0.6% African American, 3.1% Native American, 0.4% Asian, and 2.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.3% of the population.
There were 281 households of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.6% were married couples living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.1% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.04.
Marble cheese
Marble cheese is a name given to cheeses produced by combining two others, creating a marbled pattern, such as Sage Derby and Colby-Jack.
Description
Marble cheese originates from England. They are usually hard, processed cow's milk cheeses, produced from a combination of the curds of white and orange cheddars (for Marbled Cheddar), or similar. Colby-Jack combines Colby cheese and Monterey Jack and is most popular in the United States. They don't usually involve any artificial additives to achieve the marbling, though cheeses such as Red Windsor and Sage Derby contain colourings such as Chlorophyll (E140) and Carmine (E120).
Types
Faux painting
Faux painting or faux finishing are terms used to describe decorative paint finishes that replicate the appearance of materials such as marble, wood or stone. The term comes from the French word faux, meaning false, as these techniques started as a form of replicating materials such as marble and wood with paint, but has subsequently come to encompass many other decorative finishes for walls and furniture including simulating recognisable textures and surfaces.
History
Faux finishing has been used for millennia, from cave painting to the tombs of ancient Egypt, but what we generally think of as faux finishing in the decorative arts began with plaster and stucco finishes in Mesopotamia over 5,000 years ago.
Faux painting became popular in classical times in the forms of faux marble, faux wood, and trompe l'oeil murals. Artists would apprentice for 10 years or more with a master faux painter before working on their own. Great recognition was awarded to artists who could actually trick viewers into believing their work was the real thing. Faux painting has continued to be popular throughout the ages, but experienced major resurgences in the neoclassical revival of the nineteenth century and the Art Deco styles of the 1920s. During the recent history of decorative painting, faux finishing has been mainly used in commercial and public spaces.
Marble (software)
Marble is a virtual globe application which allows the user to choose among the Earth, the Moon, Venus, Mars and other planets to display as a 3-D model. It is free software under the terms of the GNU LGPL, developed by KDE for use on personal computers and smart phones. It is written in C++ and uses Qt 4 or 5.
Marble is intended to be very flexible; beyond its cross-platform design, the core components can easily be integrated into other programs. It is designed to run without the need for hardware acceleration, but it can be extended to use OpenGL. An important user-experience objective being that the application start fairly quickly, it ships with a minimal but useful off-line dataset (5–10MB).
Contributors have added support for on-line mapping sources such as OpenStreetMap and the ability to interpret KML files. Marble also provides route planning capabilities. A navigation mode called MarbleToGo was developed as part of Google Summer of Code 2010. It was later partially rewritten and renamed to Marble Touch.
Marble (disambiguation)
Marble is a type of rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone.
Marble or Marbles may also refer to:
- The Elgin Marbles, for example
People
Places
In the United States
