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Crumbling marble (WAS I need help - geologist)

Stone Conversations : Archive 1 : Message 00216

From: Andrei Stefanescu <AStefanescu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 09:14:07 -0400
Subject: Crumbling marble (WAS I need help - geologist)

Daniel,

you can help me for sure. I was recently working on a
marble sculpture when I noticed a spot where the marble
had a sugary texture - it was literally crumbling
between my fingers, not to mention tools. The curious
thing was that this happened only in one direction, i.e.
when rubbing from here to there it would crumble, but
when rubbing - or working it - from there to here it
would be almost as hard and un-yielding as normal.

I believe something in the crystalline structure must
have happened - marble being a sedimentary rock, some
soft stuff seem to have gathered there. Mind you, the
color was exactly the same as in the surrounding areas.

What explanation could you offer for this? Especially
for this curious one-way behaviour? Has anyone else
noticed something similar? Perhaps in other stones?

Thanks and regards,
Andrei

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