Most common defects in the white marble blocks of Carrara.

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The Carrara white marble, like all-natural stones, together with its decorative capacity and the remarkable technological properties, can present some defects, not always easily identifiable, depending on its natural origin.
 

The defects are of several types and in general, we can divide them into three categories.
Structural defects, texture defects, and chromatic defects.

Structural Defects.

Are those related to the structural aspects of the quarry, that is, mainly to its degree of fracture (macroscopic and microscopic).

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Texture defects and chromatic defects.

They are essentially due to several inclusions:

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- Small forum of dimensions of a few millimeters existing in some materials, as in the white marble of Carrara of some quarries such as "Lorano" and "Canal Grande".

The more white the color of Carrara's white marble, the more likely it is that some blocks present these defects.

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- Oxide point: a small natural spot of iron hydroxide.

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- Nodule: of silica or quartz, which  white marble is usually called "luccica", (which shines)

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- Chain: inclusions of an irregular type, constituted of the material of aspect and of contrasting structure with respect to the general mass of the white marble of Carrara.

A chain can constitute a defect under the decorative profile, it constitutes a defect itself when it negatively influences the physical behavior of the stone.

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