STONE HISTORY 102

KNOWLEDGE IS KEY
The three most appealing features of granite are natural beauty, life-long durability, and comparatively low maintenance. To fully appreciate the benefits of granite, it is helpful to understand the characteristics of stone and what makes it superior to man-made products.

Installed granite may not be exactly like the showroom sample. Each product has unique natural patterns, markings, veining, and darker or lighter spots. Most people view these characteristics as part of stone products natural essence.

WORLD SOURCES
Thousands of stone types have been quarried through the centuries from quarries located around the world. The majority of natural stone comes from Italy, Spain, Turkey, the United States, Mexico, China, Taiwan, India, Greece, Canada, France, and Brazil. Calgary Granite & Marble imports primarily from Brazil and Italy while offering some domestic product from Quebec.

GEOLOGY 102
Stone is a natural solid formation that may be comprised of one or many minerals. Composite minerals come from the same liquid and gas minerals that formed the earth.

As the earth developed with massive bodies of gas and liquid, minerals slowly cooled and condensed to a solid core. Extreme pressure then formed the earth's crust.

Heavy minerals were trapped when they were forced down into the earth's core. As the crust thickened, it shifted the inner core creating intense pressure and heat from deep within the earth.

Over a one hundred million year period, the expansion and shift of the earth's crust produced extreme heat and pressure that pushed the solid minerals to the earth's surface. Many of the colossal rock beds that were formed at the beginning of time are today's stone quarries.

CRYSTALS AND OTHER SOLIDS
Crystals and other solids form through the release of mineral vapours. Crystals come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can be identified by their color, hardness, and crystal formation.