The William Huskisson Memorial is a statue located in Pimlico Gardens, London. It was built to remember William Huskisson, a British politician who is known as the first person to die in a railway accident. The statue shows him standing in classical robes. The statue is made from Carrara marble, a high-quality white marble from Italy that has been used for famous sculptures for centuries.
When looking at the statue, I noticed something you don't always seen in marble statues.
1) What properties of marble make it suitable for a statue?
2) Look at the feature obscured by the red circle - can you describe the size, shape and colour?
3) Using the information below, what do you think is here?
4) Take a photo of yourself at GZ, or an identifying item, being careful not to reveal any of the answers to the questions.
Please submit your answers via message though the Geocaching website or by sending me an email - there is no need to wait for a response before logging your find.
Formation of Marble
Marble forms when limestone is changed by heat and pressure deep underground. This process, called metamorphism, causes the tiny calcite crystals in the limestone to grow and interlock. As a result, the rock becomes harder, smoother, and often loses any fossils or layering it once had.
Hardness of Marble
Marble has a hardness of about 3 to 4 on the Mohs scale, which means it can be scratched by harder materials like quartz or a steel blade. This makes it softer than stones like granite (hardness 6–7) but harder than limestone (hardness 2–3), which is what it originally formed from. Because of its softness, marble is easy to carve, which is why it’s often used for statues and buildings, even though it can wear down over time.
Some Key Features of Marble
Calcite Veins
Calcite veins form when fluids that carry calcium carbonate move through cracks in the rock and leave behind crystals as they cool or lose pressure. These veins are often lighter, shinier, or smoother than the rest of the marble, and they follow natural cracks or lines in the stone.
Foliation
Foliation is a feature you sometimes see in marble when the rock has been squeezed by pressure, causing some of the minerals to line up in layers. These layers are usually thin and may look like faint lines or slight changes in the rock’s texture or colour. They are harder to spot in marble than in other rocks, but if you look closely in good light, you might see some gentle, straight patterns in the stone.
Fossil Remains
Before it became marble, the rock was limestone, which can contain fossils like shells or coral. When the rock was changed by heat and pressure, the fossils were partly melted or changed, but sometimes their shapes can still be seen. Fossils are less common in marble because the heat and pressure that turn limestone into marble often destroy or blur the fossil shapes.