How can I tell highly polished marble from highly polished granite without doing anything destructive?

mikey40uf

pour water on it. The Marble will become darker, while the granite remains unchanged. http://www.builderguru.com/faq/granite-versus-marble/ Jan 26 09, 3:08 AM

zbeckabee

Aside from calling in an expert...this is all I'm finding: Granite: To identify granite, do a scratch test. Take a knife blade, and try scratching the surface (in an inconspicuous place). If it's hard to scratch, then it's likely to be granite (or some type of igneous rock). If you are able to scratch the stone it is either marble or limestone. Marble: You can usually identify marble because of its distinct swirls or veins. http://www.thejanitorialstore.com/public/485.cfm Jan 26 09, 12:18 PM

davejacobs

Thanks people. As this is a tombstone which has been in the rain for 150 years, I'm not sure the water test will work. The base of this memorial is almost certainly grey granite, as it has the maker's name (Macdonalds of Aberdeen) engraved in it. The main part is a hard pink stone, that I suspect may be Peterhead granite, although people have referred to it as marble for many years. There is no maker's mark on the pink part. Jan 27 09, 2:53 AM