Is Marble A Type Of Alabaster

Marble consists mostly of calcite or calcium carbonate different from the gypsum of alabaster.

Is marble a type of alabaster.

Marble forms when limestone underground is changed through extreme pressure or heat transforming it into a crystalline structure. Alabaster a fine grain form of gypsum calcium sulfate dihydrate is a sedimentary rock made of tiny crystals visible only under magnification. Pure alabaster is white and somewhat transparent which is. Marble comes in white gray green black pink and green.

Though alabaster is mainly found in white colour it also comes in many colours like pale brown and reddish. Aggie made of agate aggie is short for agate or glass resembling agate with various patterns like in the alleyalley or real made of marble or alabaster alley is short for alabaster streaked with wavy or other patterns with exotic names like corkscrew spiral snake ribbon onyx swirl bumblebee and butterfly. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists the former use it in a wider sense that includes varieties of two different minerals. They are distinguished by their hardness.

Unlike the alabaster marble can be polished heavily. Marble is a form of metamorphic rock that is characterized by an array of color due to the presence of impurities. There are various types of marbles and names vary from locality to locality. Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft often used for carving and is processed for plaster powder.

In general ancient alabaster is calcite in the wider middle east including egypt and mesopotamia while it is gypsum in medieval europe.