Marble is one of the principal raw materials for cement manufacture, very essential for a rapidly growing nation like Nigeria. These industrial rocks can be said to be already in extensive use in Nigeria. Used mostly for one purpose – the production of building and constructional materials.
Several cement factories have been built by government and even individuals to utilize the marble deposits in their respective areas. The output of cement from these companies is quite high, though grossly insufficient to cope with the high demand caused by the appreciable rise in domestic construction.
Limestone and marble are extremely valuable industrial rock raw materials. Construction and cement manufacturing industries are principal consumers. They are also used in the production of chemicals, fertilizer, abrasives, industrial fillers, ceramics, etc.
Limestone and Marble Formation
Most limestone is formed with the help of living organisms. Many marine organisms extract calcium carbonate from seawater to make shells or bones. Mussels, clams, oysters, and corals do this. So too do microscopic organisms such as foraminifera.
When the organisms die their shells and bones settle to the seafloor and accumulate there. Wave action may break the shells and bones into smaller fragments, forming a carbonates and or mud. Over millions of years, these sediments of shells, sand, and mud may harden into limestone. Coquina is a type of limestone containing large fragments of shell and coral.
Chalk is a type of limestone formed of shells of microscopic animals. Limestone can also be formed without the aid of living organisms. If water containing calcium carbonate is evaporated, the calcium carbonate is left behind and will crystalize out of solution. As the hot water evaporates and cools, it can no longer hold all of the calcium carbonate dissolved in it and some of it crystallizes out, forming limestone terraces.
Limestone formed from springs is called travertine. Calcium carbonate also precipitates in shallow tropical seas and lagoons where high temperatures cause seawater to evaporate. Such limestone is called oolite.
Marble is a form of limestone transformed through the heat and pressure of metamorphism into a dense, variously coloured, crystallized rock.
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