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Vinegar & blue alabaster

Stone Conversations : Archive 10 : Message 00155

From: John Twilley <jtwilley@zzzzzzzzzzz>
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 17:53:03 -0400
Subject: Vinegar & blue alabaster

Gary and all,

Vinegar is not very concentrated, so it is quickly neutralized on any
calcium carbonate stone. Other things being equal, a more porous
limestone will effervesce more rapidly than a non-porous or polished
surface. However, many limestones have some dolomite content as well as
calcite (some, in fact, may be entirely dolomite - calcium magnesium
carbonate). Dolomite dissolves in acids much more slowly than calcite
so a rock of that type will behave differently.

Dolomite is one step harder than calcite on the Mhos scale of mineral
hardness but is identical to calcite in appearance. Its presence is one
of the things that can give rise to different sculpting properties in
otherwise similar-looking stones. There are fully dolomitic marbles as
well as limestones, including some that are excellent sculpture
candidates from Turkey, Brazil, Malaysia, China, etc.

John Twilley

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