Thread: Marble stone?

My house has black and white marble flooring and I was amazed to see the patterns on it. I also noticed that adjacent slabs are mirror reflections of each other so they form a symmetric pattern.
Could you please explain the pattern formation?
One more thing I observed was that its hard to remove dust particles off black marble than white marble though both of them are subjected to the same conditions and are cleaned at the same time too. Could you give me a reason,please?
Details are appreciated cause I have little knowledge on rocks and their formation.

I would guess that the symmetrical pattern results from how the pieces are cut and laid. Think about it ... at the plane of a cut through stone, the cut surfaces are almost exactly the same. If you "open" them like a book and lay them side-by-side, they would look almost perfectly symmetrical. Those of us who drive Rolls Royces might realize that this is how RR makes their bookmatched exotic wood-grain dashboards and other internal surfaces. (Sadly, I am not one of them.)

As for the dust retention, I would guess that the dark parts have a rougher grain than compared to the lighter parts, or that light-colored dust might be more obvious on dark surfaces.

Originally Posted by jrmonroe

As for the dust retention, I would guess that the dark parts have a rougher grain than compared to the lighter parts, or that light-colored dust might be more obvious on dark surfaces.

This is the most likely explanation, but I wonder if differences in mineral character might lead to differences in surface charges, that would lead in turn to an electrostatic attraction for the dust.

Marble is a relatively soft, metamorphic rock. It begins it's existence as the shells and exoskeletal remains of marine invertebrates deposited upon sea floors. At this point it is known as limestone; a sedimentary rock. Limestone, when subjected to heat, pressure and time, undergoes a metamorphosis which transforms it into marble. Limestone, being organic in origin, contains carbon inclusions. Darker colored limestone is caused by this carbon. I'm not a geologist but I would guess that the darker patterns in marble have a higher amount of soft inclusions, such as carbon, which is why it's more difficult to clean.

People who quarry decorative stone pay attention to patterns. When a slab of marble is sawed into slices, each slice is tagged so that it can be matched-up with it's counterpart after shaping and polishing.

Q. What did the limestone say to the geologist?
A. Don't take me for granite!

Sorry. Been sitting on that one sense grade school!

The colour of marble is due is white if the limestone is pure, and if it has hematite or clay in it, marble is reddish colour . Most marble is large grained and comes in many colors and patterns.