Marble details
Marble, crystalline, compact variety of metamorphosed limestone, consisting primarily of calcite (CaCO3), dolomite (CaMg (CO3)2), or a combination of both minerals. Pure calcite is white, but mineral impurities add color in variegated patterns. Hematite, for example, adds red; limonite, yellow; serpentine, green; and diopside, blue. Marble is capable of taking a high polish and is used principally for statuary and for building purposes. Extensive deposits are located in Italy, Great Britain, and in the United States in Georgia, Tennessee, Vermont, Alabama, and Colorado. Commercially the term marble is extended to include any rock composed of calcium carbonate that takes a polish, and it includes some ordinary limestones. The term is further extended in the loose designation of stones such as alabaster, serpentine, and sometimes granite....