AESTHETIC CHARACTERISTICS OF GREEK ORNAMENTAL STONES ASSOCIATED WITH MINERAL, GEOCHEMICAL AND STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES

Abstract

Commercial marble are almost ready-to-use materials with a high economic value for the building-construction industry. The most important ornamental stones in Greece include limestone and marble with notable qualitative features and are considered products of high commercial value. In this research, seventy-three carbonate samples (limestones, dolomites and marbles) from all over Greece have been studied to determine their macroscopic and petrographic features and to investigate their mineral chemistry and geochemistry. Their colors vary from whitish to gray due to their content of calcite and dolomite, black due to bitumens, yellow due to the presence of iron oxides and clay, red due to iron oxides and mixed phases of calcite- siderite, green-brownish due to the presence of iron oxides or muscovite and chlorite, giving schistosity to the rock. Scattered calcite and dolomite veins, as well as the occurrence of other minerals such as barite, epidote and magnetite, contribute to specific features, thus making their appearance unique. The particular characteristics of each stone depend highly upon the type of minerals present, their composition, grain size and extent of aggregation, their geochemistry and structure.