The Marbles of Carrara

The view of the town from our hostel near La Spezia.

We left La Spezia this morning heading for Florence. On the way, we traveled up through the Alpi Apuane, a set of mountains that contain Italy's famous Carrara marble. This marble is pure in composition and color, and is the most valuable marble in the world. Michelangelo used this marble to sculpt David, which is now on display in Florence. It has also been used as building material in the Pantheon in Rome, as well as many other buildings around the world.

The Carrara marbles formed as limestones were plunged deep under other rocks during tectonic collision. With increasing heat and pressure, the limestones turned into marbles at depth. Later on, the rocks were exhumed through extensional faulting and became accessible for mining.

A marble quarry near Carrara.

A close-up look at the folding of the marble as a result of deep metamorphosis.

The clear irony of a peaceful alpine landscape and scars upon the land.

Whiteboard in hand, Ed describes the processes that took place to produce this pure marble.