Marble

Marble. Granular metamorphic rock formed as a result of a recrystallization of limestone or, less frequently, dolomites, under the influence of heat, pressure, and aqueous solutions. Pure marble is white; various admixtures result in different colors, such as pink, red, yellow, brown, green, black, gray, and blue. The largest deposits of marble are in Italy and Greece. In Ukraine deposits of marble are located in the Ukrainian Crystalline Shield (mostly gray marble) on the Teteriv River (Koziivka) and the Boh River (Khashchuvate, Zavallia); in Transcarpathia, where deposits of marble in Dilove (white, gray, and dark gray), Rakhiv and Tiachiv (red and pink), and other locations have significant industrial importance; in the Crimean Mountains (mainly pink, red, and brown), near Balaklava, Haspra, and other sites; and in the Donets Basin, where deposits of marble-like limestones are located near Troitsko-Khartsyzk and Novopavlivka and elsewhere.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]