mar·ble / ˈmärbəl/ • n. 1. a hard crystalline metamorphic form of limestone, typically white with mottlings or streaks of color, that is capable of taking a polish and is used in sculpture and architecture. ∎  used in similes and comparisons with reference to the smoothness, hardness, or color of marble: her shoulders were as white as marble. ∎  a marble sculpture.2. a small ball of colored glass or similar material used as a toy. ∎  (marbles) [treated as sing.] a game in which such balls are rolled along the ground.3. (one's marbles) inf. one's mental faculties: I thought she'd lost her marbles, asking a question like that.• v. [tr.] stain or streak (something) so that it looks like variegated marble: the low stone walls were marbled with moss and lichen.PHRASES: pick up one's marbles and go home inf. withdraw petulantly from an activity after having suffered a setback: he doesn't have the guts to take a bad defeat, and is now picking up his marbles and going home.DERIVATIVES: mar·bler n.mar·bly / -blē; -bəlē/ adj.

Marble

Marble is metamorphosed limestone , that is, limestone that has been melted and allowed to resolidify. If the original limestone is a calcite limestone, then the marble is a calcite marble (i.e., mostly CaCO₃); if the original limestone is a dolomitic limestone, then the marble is a dolomitic or magnesian marble (i.e., mostly CaMg (CO₃)₂). In nongeological contexts the term marble is often used to refer to any hard, calcite rock that can be cut or polished, including some unmetamorphosed limestones. In geology , however, it is reserved strictly for metamorphosed limestones.

Certain marbles have been valued since antiquity for sculpture and for architectural uses. The marbles prized for statuary are usually quite pure (i.e., white in color and free from inclusions or marks) and reflect light softly or semitranslucently due to their property of allowing some incident light to penetrate to a depth of about an inch (1–2.5 cm) before reflecting it.

Some marbles that show colorful patterning are used for decorative architecture. Patterning in marble arises from various trace minerals , most often silicates (e.g., quartz, olivine , garnet), graphite , pyrite, and organic substances. The magma responsible for metamorphosing the original limestone may also contribute impurities.

Wrinkled thin layers that show in cross-section as sinuous lines are common in marbles. These layers are termed stylolites. Stylolites consist of silicates or other accessory minerals and are usually darker than the surrounding marble. They do not form as sedimentary layers in the original limestone, but result from the selective removal of limestone by water . Calcite is a highly soluble mineral; when part of the original limestone is dissolved by infiltrating water, the fine particles that are left are compacted into an irregular layer or stylolite. Comparison of accessory mineral concentrations in adjacent marble and in stylolites shows that 40% or more of a limestone bed may be dissolved in the process of forming stylolites.

Calcite marble, like any other calcite rock, effervesces vigorously (yielding carbon dioxide [CO₂]) when tested with hydrochloric acid. Dolomitic marble effervesces more weakly. Otherwise, they are difficult to distinguish.

See also Field methods in geology; Industrial minerals

marble Non-foliated, metamorphosed limestone which is produced by recrystallization and is hard enough to take a polish. The hardest and most attractive marbles have been used in statuary and for building since antiquity and are still quarried, e.g. from the Carrara quarry which supplied Michelangelo. The statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, is made from marble quarried in Georgia, USA. Marbles may be variously coloured or banded, depending on their chemical and mineralogical composition (mostly calcite), e.g. Carrara marble is pure white, but Siena marble, quarried in Tuscany, has red mottling.

marble lose one's marbles lose one's faculties or common sense (informal, recorded from the early 20th century).
Marble Arch a large arch with three gateways at the NE corner of Hyde Park in London, near the site of which Tyburn gallows once stood. Designed by John Nash, it was erected in 1827 in front of Buckingham Palace and moved in 1851 to its present site.
pick up one's marbles and go home in informal North American usage, withdraw petulantly from an activity after having suffered a setback.

See also Elgin Marbles.

marble. Limestone in a crystalline or granular state, capable of taking a polish. It varies greatly in colour, and may be veined, depending on its constituent elements. It was widely used in Antiquity, and the white varieties (e.g. Carrara) were used for sculpture. It deteriorates rapidly in polluted atmosphere, or where the rain is acidic, as may be seen in the cemeteries of the British Isles.

Bibliography

Borghini (ed.) (1989);
Castelnuovo (1992);
N. Davey (1961);
Mannoni & and Mannoni (1985);
W. Papworth (1852)