Within the framework of a wide-ranging research on the historical stones used as building materials in the western Tuscany, the chemical, mineralogical, petrographic, physical and mechanical characteristics of the Acquabona Limestones (member of the Rosignano Limestone Formation, Late Miocene) were investigated. From the Middle Age up to the 20th century, the Acquabona Limestones were widely used as an inexpensive, rather high-grade building material and as an essential raw material for soda production. For a construction purpose, these rocks were employed in the local buildings at Rosignano Marittimo and Livorno, the areas where they were quarried. Minor amounts of Acquabona Limestones were also employed in historical buildings of Pisa. The paper presents the results of a study on forty-seven un-weathered samples collected from the historical Acquabona quarries near Rosignano Marittimo, a small town 35 km south from Pisa, and from two small outcrops located on the southern outskirts of Livorno, in the localities of Ardenza and Antignano. Unfortunately, the intensive extraction has almost completely exploited the existing stone material in the latter area, and now only two small outcrops remain. The analysed rocks show comparable macroscopic and textural features, and a rather narrow range of chemical and mineralogical characteristics and of physical and mechanical properties, except for those depending on the calcite/dolomite ratio. The samples collected from the historical Acquabona quarries are characterised by calcite as main mineralogical phase, whereas those from the Ardenza and Antignano outcrops show a variably high content in dolomite that could be in part related to the peculiar biofacies identified in these samples, dominated by large bivalve shells.
Historical building stones of the western Tuscany (Italy): the Acquabona Limestones from Mts. Livornesi
GIONCADA, ANNA;LEZZERINI, MARCO
2012-01-01
Abstract
Within the framework of a wide-ranging research on the historical stones used as building materials in the western Tuscany, the chemical, mineralogical, petrographic, physical and mechanical characteristics of the Acquabona Limestones (member of the Rosignano Limestone Formation, Late Miocene) were investigated. From the Middle Age up to the 20th century, the Acquabona Limestones were widely used as an inexpensive, rather high-grade building material and as an essential raw material for soda production. For a construction purpose, these rocks were employed in the local buildings at Rosignano Marittimo and Livorno, the areas where they were quarried. Minor amounts of Acquabona Limestones were also employed in historical buildings of Pisa. The paper presents the results of a study on forty-seven un-weathered samples collected from the historical Acquabona quarries near Rosignano Marittimo, a small town 35 km south from Pisa, and from two small outcrops located on the southern outskirts of Livorno, in the localities of Ardenza and Antignano. Unfortunately, the intensive extraction has almost completely exploited the existing stone material in the latter area, and now only two small outcrops remain. The analysed rocks show comparable macroscopic and textural features, and a rather narrow range of chemical and mineralogical characteristics and of physical and mechanical properties, except for those depending on the calcite/dolomite ratio. The samples collected from the historical Acquabona quarries are characterised by calcite as main mineralogical phase, whereas those from the Ardenza and Antignano outcrops show a variably high content in dolomite that could be in part related to the peculiar biofacies identified in these samples, dominated by large bivalve shells.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
