Marble provenance

For marble provenance studies, the most successful technique seems to be the measurement, through mass spectrometry, of the abundance ratios of the stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen (116). However, no single technique appears to provide unequivocal results, especially in cases such as the different Mediterranean sources, and a combination is often necessary to arrive at an approximate place of origin (117). 

Brilli, M., Cavazzini, G., and Turi, B. (2005) New data of Sr/ Sr ratio in classical marble an initial database for marble provenance determination. 

Craig, H. and V. Craig (1972), Greek marbles Determination of provenance by isotope analysis, Science 176, 401 403. 

Maniatis, Y. (2004), Scientific techniques and methodologies for the provenance of white marbles, Proc. Int. School of Physics "Enrico Fermi" 154 (Physics Methods in Archaeometry), pp. 179-202. 

Not every member of the USLTA was pleased with the organization s decision. Former U.S. National and Wimbledon champion Alice Marble wrote a scathing editorial in the July 1950 issue of American Lawn Tennis magazine criticizing the USLTA s segregationist stance. Ms. Marble (60) wrote, The entrance of (African-Americans) into national tennis is as inevitable as it has proven in baseball, in football, or in boxing there is no... 

Carbon 13c/12c 12C = 98.89 13C= 1.11 Organic matter, carbonates, biomineralized tissue, soil, C02 Diet, plant water-use efficiency, climate and habitat, provenance (ivory, marble)... 

Oxygen 18o/16o 160 = 99.759 170 = 0.037 lsO = 0.204 Water, biomineralized carbonates and phosphates, sedimentary phosphates and carbonates, silicates, organic matter Climate, plant and animal water metabolism, ocean temperature, provenance (marble), chronostratigraphy... 

The provenance of marble is one such case. Early attempts at provenance using trace elements found that trace element concentrations varied by factors of over 100 within the same quarry. However, the stable isotopic ratios of oxygen and carbon have been used to discriminate between marble sources. These isotopic ratios are fractionated during initial formation of the protolith. For example, the will vary... 

Hertz N (1992) Provenance determination of Neolithic to Classical Mediterranean marbles by stable isotopes. Archaeometry 34 185-194. 

Epiphytic lichens may conceivably harm their phorophyte by blocking lenticels or harboring harmful insects, but this has never been proven to be a widespread or serious effect. Some lichens can etch glass and marble and have been a serious problem in the preservation of ancient buildings and artifacts. 

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