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Common urban rocks -

Carrara Marble

Carrara Marble

This is a true marble (a metamorphic rock) from Italy. It is very white and is almost entirely composed of the mineral calcite. It was originally a limestone that got heated up allowing the calcite to recrystallize. A broken piece looks a bit like a white Kendall mint cake or old fashioned sugar loaf. It can be carved so is used for statues and ornaments. It is prone to weathering from acid raid which dissolves the calcite. The weathering tends to turn the rock grey as it loses its pure white colour. The might be lichens attached to weathered Carrara Marble

It is also commonly used for gravestones with grey lettering  added made from lead. The lead lettering would have originally been flat with the stone. Eventually on a gravestone the lead lettering starts to stand out proud and eventually will fall out. This can be used as a crude measure of atmospheric pollution,

Draped urn in Carrara Marble

In Hull it can be seen used in monuments in many of the cemeteries, as door steps on Victorian houses and some statues.

fish in Carrara Marble

Icefish on Carrara Marble on the Hull Fish Trail

  

Copyright - Mike Horne and Hull Geological Society 2020

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