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Briefly, (and without wishing to bore you!) anticlines are folded rock formations that have an upwards convex shape.
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There are a surprising number of mines, but the greatest source of Portuguese marble is a world-famous geological area called the Estremoz Anticline, located in the Alentejo region. It gives the appearance of huge containers stacked one on top of another with the machinery being dwarfed at the bottom.īut did you know that marble extraction in Portugal has a long history? Marble quarries are astonishingly huge and really deep, and the marble is cut in ‘blocks’ from a vertical wall, the blocks usually weighing between 15,000 and 25,000 pounds, and is cut with diamond cables, drills and torches. It’s also heavy which makes it an ideal building material that can withstand the harshest conditions and still look as good as new. That means that it’s tough and hard to destroy. It is composed primarily of the mineral calcite, and usually contains other minerals, such as micas, quartz, pyrite, iron oxides, clay minerals and graphite. Marble is a metamorphic rock that forms when limestone is subjected to heat and pressure. Marble is the perfect material to repel water - with the proper sealant, water will bead right up and wipe clean, leaving no lasting marks that might otherwise stain - it’s great for preventing water damage, as any water will roll right off. Bugs, insects, and other creepy crawlies can’t burrow their way into a marble window sill to cause it to disintegrate for example, nor does it need repainting every few years after the relentless summer sunshine does its damage.
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We probably take it for granted because it’s always been there, we walk over it every day or wipe it down in the kitchen and never give it a second thought. In many Portuguese homes, marble features in some form or another, whether it be on the floor inside, or outside in the garden, the steps to your apartment, kitchen surfaces, bathrooms or window sills.