Stone Dimensions - Winter/Spring 2008 - (Page 8) In the United States, Indiana Limestone has been used in construction of many of our most famous landmarks, including the National Cathedral in Washington DC, The Empire State Building, the Pentagon, Tribune Tower in Chicago and 27 U.S. State Capitols. Known to geologists as Salem Limestone and to the construction world as Indiana Limestone, this unique natural material has been a premier building material for more than a century. In addition to the huge deposits of limestone available in Indiana, limestone is also found in large quantities in the Mediterranean, Europe and elsewhere. Limestone was created hundreds of millions of years ago from the shells of zillions of tiny sea snails and other sea creatures. When they died, they fell to the bottom of the sea and rotted. Pressure from the water and other shells crushed them into stone, which was called limestone. When the oceans shifted, the calcium rock was left on land and is now able to be quarried. The sediments that were to become Indiana Limestone were deposited in a warm, clear, shallow sea that covered what is now south-central Indiana more than 330 million years ago. The shelled sea animals ultimately became Indiana Limestone. According to the Indiana Limestone Institute, the product it represents is a freestone, which means that it exhibits no preferential direction of splitting and can, therefore, be cut and carved in an almost limitless variety of shapes and sizes. Indiana Limestone is classified into two colors – buff and grey. Limestone has many uses in the residential arena, both outside and inside. Fireplaces, floors and window sills constitute major indoor applications. On the outside, entire exteriors can be crafted of limestone, which you see on these pages. Editor’s Note: This feature on limestone is another in the continuing series on various types of natural stones for residential/commercial applications. 8 StoneDimensions www.stonedimensionsmagazine.com http://www.stonedimensionsmagazine.com
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