List of types of marble
Encyclopedia
Marble
Marble is a 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.Marble is commonly used for...
according to location. (NB: Marble-like stone which is not true marble according to geologists is included, but is indicated by endnotes).
British Isles
- Ashford Black MarbleAshford Black MarbleAshford Black Marble is the name given to a dark limestone, quarried from mines near Ashford-in-the-Water, in Derbyshire, England. Once cut, turned and polished, its shiny black surface is highly decorative. Ashford Black Marble is a very fine-grained sedimentary rock, and is not a true marble in...
- Connemara marble (Verd antique, serpentine marble)
- Purbeck MarblePurbeck MarblePurbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone quarried in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England.It is one of many kinds of Purbeck Limestone, deposited in the late Jurassic or early Cretaceous periods....
- Sussex MarbleSussex MarbleWest Sussex has a good concentration of relatively thin layers of Sussex Marble within the Weald Clay, a freshwater limestone referred to as "marble" as it takes a polish. It is not a geologically described one as it has not been subject to metamorphosis...
(also known as "Petworth marble")
Greece
- Cipollino marbleCipollino marbleCipollino marble was a variety of marble used by the ancient Greeks and Romans, whose Latin term for it was "marmor carystium" . It was quarried in several locations on the south-west coast of the island of Euboea in Greece, between the modern-day cities of Styra and Karystos...
- Hymettus MarbleHymettusHymettus, also Hymettos is a mountain range in the Athens area, East Central Greece. It is also colloquially known as Trellos or Trellovouno , a name of uncertain origin...
- Parian marbleParian marbleParian marble is a fine-grained semitranslucent pure-white and entirely flawless marble quarried during the classical era on the Greek island of Paros in the Aegean Sea.It was highly prized by ancient Greeks for making sculptures...
- Pentelic marble
- Skyros marbleSkyros marbleSkyros marble is worldwide famous since ancient times. Marble from Skyros Island decorates many important sites and historical monuments in Greece and all over the world.Marble of Skyros quality is considered as timelessly perfect...
Italy
- Carrara marble (Luna marbleLuna (Etruria)Luna was an ancient city of Etruria, Italy, 4~ miles southeast of modern Sarzana. It was the frontier town of Etruria, on the left bank of the river Macra , the boundary in imperial times between Etruria and Liguria...
) - Pavonazzo marblePavonazzo marblePavonazzo marble is a white marble from Italy.The name derives from the Italian word for peacock . "In natural stone trade, Pavonazzo is often simply called a Marble." It is one of the many varieties of Carrara marble, distinguished by black/gray-veined white marble. Also referred to as...
- Sienese marble
North America
United States
- Creole marbleCreole marbleCreole marble, also called Georgia creole or Georgia marble is a marble from quarries in Pickens County, Georgia. It is coarse-grained, displays a white or gray background while veins or clouds are black or dark blue...
- Etowah marbleEtowah marbleEtowah marble, also called Georgia pink marble, is a marble with a characteristic pink, salmon, or rose color that comes from quarries near Tate, Georgia.-Notable buildings with Etowah marble:*Carillon, Boks Tower Gardens, Florida...
- Murphy MarbleGeorgia Marble CompanyThe Georgia Marble Company was founded in 1884 by Henry Fitzsimmons. Fitzsimmons leased out all the land in Pickens County, Georgia, that contained rich Georgia marble. Pickens County has a vein of marble long, half as wide and deep.-Company history:...
- St. Genevieve marbleSt. Genevieve marbleSt. Genevieve marble, also known as Ste. Genevieve marble, is an oolitic limestone found in Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri. It is part of the Archimedes Limestone formation....
- Sylacauga marbleSylacauga marbleSylacauga marble is found in a belt running through Talladega County, Alabama. It is prized for its pure white color and its crystalline structure. The stone is named after the town of Sylacauga, Alabama, which is sometimes called "the Marble City". Sylacauga marble has been called the "world's...
- Tennessee marbleTennessee marbleTennessee marble is a type of crystalline limestone found primarily in East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Long esteemed by architects and builders for its pinkish-gray color and the ease with which it is polished, this stone has been used in the construction of numerous notable...
- Vermont marbleVermont Marble MuseumThe Vermont Marble Museum or Vermont Marble Exhibit is a museum commemorating the contributions of Vermont marble and the Vermont Marble Company, located in Proctor, Vermont, USA...
- Yule MarbleYule MarbleYule Marble is a type of metamorphed limestone found only in the Yule Creek Valley, in the West Elk Mountains of Colorado, just south of the town of Marble, Colorado . Quarried today at 9,300 feet above sea level, Yule Marble is famous for its uniform pure white consistency, lacking, for the most...
Endnotes
These entries are actually "false" marble, near-marble, or marble mis-nomers:- Geologists consider Ashford Black MarbleAshford Black MarbleAshford Black Marble is the name given to a dark limestone, quarried from mines near Ashford-in-the-Water, in Derbyshire, England. Once cut, turned and polished, its shiny black surface is highly decorative. Ashford Black Marble is a very fine-grained sedimentary rock, and is not a true marble in...
to be a type of carboniferous limestoneCarboniferous limestoneCarboniferous Limestone is a term used to describe a variety of different types of limestone occurring widely across Great Britain and Ireland which were deposited during the Dinantian epoch of the Carboniferous period. They were formed between 363 and 325 million years ago...
. - Geologists consider Connemara marble to be a type of serpentiniteSerpentiniteSerpentinite is a rock composed of one or more serpentine group minerals. Minerals in this group are formed by serpentinization, a hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's mantle...
. - Geologists consider Purbeck MarblePurbeck MarblePurbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone quarried in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England.It is one of many kinds of Purbeck Limestone, deposited in the late Jurassic or early Cretaceous periods....
to be a type of limestoneLimestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
. - Geologists consider Sussex MarbleSussex MarbleWest Sussex has a good concentration of relatively thin layers of Sussex Marble within the Weald Clay, a freshwater limestone referred to as "marble" as it takes a polish. It is not a geologically described one as it has not been subject to metamorphosis...
to be a type of limestone. - Geologists consider St. Genevieve marbleSt. Genevieve marbleSt. Genevieve marble, also known as Ste. Genevieve marble, is an oolitic limestone found in Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri. It is part of the Archimedes Limestone formation....
to be an ooliticOoliteOolite is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Hellenic word òoion for egg. Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 mm; rocks composed of ooids larger than 2 mm are called pisolites...
limestone. - Geologists consider Tennessee marbleTennessee marbleTennessee marble is a type of crystalline limestone found primarily in East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Long esteemed by architects and builders for its pinkish-gray color and the ease with which it is polished, this stone has been used in the construction of numerous notable...
to be a compressed limestone.