This rock contains a very high percentage of calcite, which is recrystallized from the original premetamorphic limestone. Other minerals are produced as a result of metamorphic conditions, the most important of which is olivine. This mineral occurs in the marble as greenish-brown granular crystals.

TEXTURE A rock with a crystalline texture, olivine marble is formed from an interlocking mass of calcite crystals. It differs from the original limestone, in which the calcite grains may have pore spaces between them. Fossils occur only rarely in marble, because the calcite is recrystallized. The olivine crystals are granular in texture.

ORIGIN This rock is formed when limestone is thermally metamorphosed by the intrusion of igneous rock.

Group: METAMORPHIC

Grain size: Fine, Coarse

Classification: Contact

Pressure: Low

Temperature: High

Structure: Crystalline