Dolomite with Quartz, Calcite

specimen number:
1052715

location:
Carrara, Tuscany, Italy

description:
Blocky white crystals of dolomite up on a marble matrix with gemmy colorless crystals of quartz. The specimen comes with an antique label as shown at the end of the video with an original acquisition date in 1909.

The Apuan Alps around Carrara, located in the Tuscany region of northwestern Italy, host the world's most famous and historically significant deposits of high-purity white architectural and statuary marble. Geologically, these vast, uniform formations originated as a thick sequence of marine carbonate sediments during the Early Jurassic period, which subsequently underwent intense regional metamorphism under extreme heat and pressure during the Alpine orogeny roughly thirty million years ago. This severe tectonic event recrystallized the original limestone into a dense, interlocking mosaic of microscopic calcite crystals, virtually eliminating all fossils and impurities to create the exceptionally bright white, fine-grained stone that is sometimes shot through with delicate gray veins. Historically, organized quarrying at Carrara began under the Roman Empire in the second century BC using iron wedges and manual labor, expanding exponentially during the Renaissance when masters like Michelangelo personally visited the slopes to select pure statuary blocks. The production methods evolved from primitive hand-splitting to explosive blasting in the nineteenth century, followed by the introduction of diamond wire saws and heavy earthmoving machinery during the twentieth century. These extensive open-cast and subterranean quarries have operated continuously for over two thousand years, with hundreds of active concessions continuing to extract millions of tons of premium stone annually through 2026 to supply global luxury construction and fine art markets.

Dr. Ludwig Eger (active c. 1870-1915) was a highly respected Austrian mineral dealer based in Vienna who played a significant role in the distribution of Central European and Alpine mineral specimens during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Operating under the firm name "Dr. L. Eger," his business was situated in the heart of Vienna, a primary hub for scientific exchange during the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Eger was noted for his professional, academic approach to the mineral trade, often supplying high-quality, systematic collections to universities and major museums throughout Europe and North America. His labels are easily recognized by their classic 19th-century typography, typically featuring "Dr. L. Eger, Wien" (the German name for Vienna) and providing detailed locality and species data in a formal, structured format. In addition to minerals, Eger dealt in paleontological and zoological specimens, as was common for the natural history establishments of the time.

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