Stones

Have you ever been overwhelmed with the variety and choice of stone available in your local builders yard? Here is some info that will demystify stone types and provide a handy guide to properties, color, textures of some common available stones.

Composition of Stone

A stone is an aggregate of minerals. Stones and rocks have been created over millions of years through the chemical processes in the Earth. Every stone is a piece of this planet's geological history. All stones are different as their mineral composition varies. Some properties which can help geologists identify them are color, hardness, and the types of crystals which form the stone.

Types of Stones

Stones can be categorized into 4 very broad divisions.

• Sedimentary Stones - are formed when layers of particles of the Earth's crust are deposited one over the other. Due to catalysts like high pressure and temperature, these layers get transformed into sedimentary rocks. See the process explained through a diagram. Some common types are limestone and sandstone.
• Metamorphic Stones - are created when one rock types gets transformed into another type through forces like pressure, temperature or chemical reactions. See the process explained through a diagram. Some common examples are slate and marble.
• Igneous Stones - are created from volcanic materials. See the process explained through a diagram. Granite is the most commonly used igneous stone.
• Man-made Stones - are created synthetically using cement and/or resins with stone chips. Some common types are terrazzo (which has marble chips embedded in a cement or epoxy mixture) and cultured stone (which is a mixture of resins with paint to look like marble).

Naming Stones

Stones are named using 2 characteristics - their color and the location from where they were quarried. (View a movie of a typical Stone Quarry.) As an example Bianco Carrara - is white marble from Carrara Italy.

Colors of Stones

Here are some common stones with the colors they are available in:

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