14-sandrone et al - Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra

Transcription

14-sandrone et al - Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra
Per. Mineral. (2004), 73, 211-226
SPECIAL ISSUE 3: A showcase of the Italian research in applied petrology
http://go.to/permin
An International Journal of
MINERALOGY, CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, GEOCHEMISTRY,
ORE DEPOSITS, PETROLOGY, VOLCANOLOGY
and applied topics on Environment, Archaeometry and Cultural Heritage
Contemporary natural stones from the Italian western Alps
(Piedmont and Aosta Valley Regions)
RICCARDO SANDRONE1*, ANNITA COLOMBO2, LAURA FIORA3, MAURO FORNARO4, ENRICO LOVERA1,
ANNALISA TUNESI2 and ALESSANDRO CAVALLO5
1
Dip. Georisorse e Territorio, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Dip. Scienze Geologiche e Geotecnologie, Università di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 4, 20126 Milano, Italy
3
Dip. Scienze Mineralogiche e Petrologiche, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Torino, Italy
4
Dip. Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Torino, Italy
5
Dip. Scienze della Terra “Ardito Desio”, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Mangiagalli 34, 20133 Milano, Italy
2
A BSTRACT . — At present about 60 different
kinds of stones are quarried in the Italian
Western Alps, most of which are metamorphic
rocks (gneiss, ophicalcite, marble and quartzite) and,
to a lesser extent, magmatic (granite, syenite
.
and diorite), with an overall production of 380 000
3
m in the year 2002. This work synthetically
illustrates their geologic and petrographic
characteristics, gives essential historical information
and examines the technical, environmental
and economic aspects of their extraction and
production.
RIASSUNTO. — Nelle Alpi Occidentali italiane
sono attualmente coltivate circa 60 varietà di
rocce, in prevalenza metamorfiche (gneiss,
oficalcite, marmo e quarzite) e subordinatamente
magmatiche (granito, sienite e diorite), con
una produzione complessiva nel 2002 dell’ordine
di 380.000 m3. Il lavoro ne illustra sinteticamente
i caratteri geo-petrografici, ne fornisce notizie
storiche essenziali ed esamina aspetti tecnici,
ambientali ed economici della loro estrazione
e trasformazione.
KEY WORDS: natural stones, Western Alps, geology,
petrography, production
* Corresponding author, E-mail: [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
In the Italian Western Alps a great deal of
different varieties of stones were quarried in
the past and can be considered historical stones
because of their diffusion or use in monumental
works (see, for example, Barelli, 1835; Jervis,
1889; Salmoiraghi, 1892; Blangino, 1895;
Sacco, 1907; Peretti, 1938). There are now
about 60 varieties on the market which can be
grouped together in a few lithotypes (granite,
syenite, diorite, gneiss, quartzite, ophicalcite
and marble). Their overall production in the
.
year 2002 was more than 380 000 m 3 of
«workable stone», which means material that is
suitable for processing, and 97% of this was in
Piedmont. Among the various lithotypes that
are quarried, gneiss is the most prevalent: it is
marketed in about twenty varieties and it
represents more than 90% of the entire
production in Piedmont. It is extracted and
worked above all in the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
province and in the Luserna Stone (Pietra di
Luserna) district, on the border between the
Turin and Cuneo provinces (Fig. 1).
Ophicalcite, whose production is limited to the
212
R. SANDRONE, A. COLOMBO, L. FIORA, M. FORNARO, E. LOVERA, A. TUNESI and A. CAVALLO
bani
an
A
Varese
Ticino
7
C
Biella
Al
ps
Ju
ra
Ivrea
W
es
ter
n
Po
Torino
Po
3
Po Plain
D
Cuneo
Genova
Savona
A, B,
B
Mar Ligure
Imperia
Fig. 1 – Structural sketch map of the Western Alps with location of the stones that are referred to in the text.
Delphinois-Helvetic domain 1: undifferentiated basement and cover. Penninic Domain 2: Prealps; 3: Subbriançonnais
Zone (Sion-Courmayeur Zone or North-Penninic Valais Zone in the northern part of the map); 4: Briançonnais Zone
(Grand St. Bernard multinappe system in the northern part of the map) and Moncucco-Orselina-Isorno Zone (MO); 5:
Simplon-Tessin Nappes (A = Antigorio; ML = Monte Leone); 6: Internal crystalline massifs (MR = Monte Rosa; GP =
Gran Paradiso; DM = Dora Maira); 7: Piemonte Zone; North-Penninic Calcschists; Triassic-Neocomian succession of
Versoyen, Montenotte and Sestri-Voltaggio Units; 8: Alpine Helminthoid Flysch of Ubaye-Embrunais and Liguria.
Austroalpine Domain 9: Sesia-Lanzo Zone (SL) and Dent Blanche Nappe (DBL); Southern Alps 10: Ivrea-Verbano
Zone; 11: Serie dei Laghi and Canavese Zone (W of Ivrea); 12: mainly Permian-Mesozoic volcanic and sedimentary cover.
Post-collisional Alpine intrusives 13: Traversella stock and Valle del Cervo pluton. Apennines and Torino Hill 14:
Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments. Po Plain and Ligurian-Piedmontese Basin 15: Tertiary and Quaternary sediments.
16: Main tectonic lines (CL = Canavese Line; SVL = Sestri-Voltaggio Line). 17: Stones that are referred to in the text (A:
granites; B1: Candoglia-Ornavasso marbles; B2: Crevoladossola marble; B3: Val Germanasca marble; B4 and B5: marbles
from the Cuneo province; C1: Beola; C2: Serizzo; C3: Luserna Stone; C4: Perosa and Malanaggio Stones; C5: San Basilio
Stone; C6: Verde Argento, Verde Selene and Verde Aosta; C7: Courtil Stone; C8: Cogne and Senagy Stones; D: Bargiolina
Quartzite; E: «Green Marble» from the Aosta Valley; F: Cervo Valley Syenite; G: Vico and Traversella Diorite; H: Morgex
Stone). 18: Italian state border. 19: Regional borders.
Contemporary natural stones from the Italian western Alps (Piedmont and Aosta Valley Regions)
Aosta Valley where it represents about 60% of
the entire regional production, is known on the
market as «Green Marble» and a dozen or so
varieties are extracted.
213
quartz, mica and, above all, feldspar (Bozzola
et al., 1995).
From a geo-petrographic point of view, the
granites (Boriani et al., 1988a; 1988b; 1992;
Pinarelli et al., 1988; 1993), which are
characterised by medium or medium to fine
grain sizes, pertain to a composite complex of
plutonic bodies of the Lower Permian age, that
intruded at a shallow depth the Southern Alps
basament (Fig. 1) of the Serie dei Laghi (see
the review in Boriani, 2000).
Apart from the intermediate early facies
(Appinitic suite), their composition varies from
granodiorites to granites (Fig. 2 and Table 1),
with a dominant calcalkaline character.
The Mergozzo Green Granite is an
«episyenite» that formed in the peripheral part
of the intrusion due to hydrothermal
metasomatism, with the dissolution of quartz,
the replacement of feldspars with albite, and
the chloritizazion of biotite.
The Ossola Valley marbles are now
exploited in two particular areas: CandogliaOrnavasso and Crevoladossola (B1 and B2 in
Fig. 1). In the former area, they are represented
THE VERBANO-CUSIO-OSSOLA (VCO) DISTRICT
The 81 ornamental stone quarries, that were
authorized to operate in the year 2003
according to legislation in force, exploit granite
(5 quarries), marble (4 quarries) and two types
of orthogneiss which are locally and
commercially known as Beola (17 quarries)
and Serizzo (55 quarries); in the year .2002 the
production of workable stone was 193 000 m3.
Granite (A in Fig. 1) is extracted in two
varieties known as Rosa di Baveno (2 quarries)
and Bianco di Montorfano; a third variety
(Verde di Mergozzo) stopped being quarried in
recent years. At present, the largest quarry
dumps, located in historical extraction sites that
have not yet been re-naturalised, are again
subject to quarrying operations for the
recuperation of industrial minerals, such as
R2
2000
Baveno Granite
Montorfano Granite
Mergozzo Granite
Serizzo
Beola
1000
to
grd
qz mo
gr
qz sye
1000
alk gr
2000
3000
R1
Fig. 2 – Cumulative R1R2 diagram (De La Roche et al., 1980) for granites, beola and serizzo. Abbreviations: to = tonalite;
grd = granodiorite; qz mo = quartz monzonite; gr = granite; qz sye = quartz syenite; alk gr = alkali granite. Data from
Boriani et al. (1988b; 1992) for Baveno, Montorfano and Mergozzo granites, Hunziker (1966) and Joos (1969) for Serizzo,
Pagliani (1944) and Bigioggero et al. (1982-83) for Beola.
214
R. SANDRONE, A. COLOMBO, L. FIORA, M. FORNARO, E. LOVERA, A. TUNESI and A. CAVALLO
TABLE 1
Modal composition range for Granito Rosa di Baveno (1), Granito Bianco di Montorfano (2),
Granito Verde di Mergozzo (3), Beola (4), Serizzo (5), Luserna Stone (6), Bargiolina Quartzite (7),
Valle del Cervo Syenitic Complex (from old active quarries) (8) and Cogne-Valsavarenche
metatonalite (9). Mineral symbols according to Kretz (1983): Qtz = quartz, Kfs = K-feldspar,
Pl = plagioclase, An = anorthite, Hbl = hornblende, Bt = biotite, Chl = chlorite,
Ms = muscovite (phengite in 6 and 7). Data from Gandolfi and Paganelli (1974) for 1, 2 and 3;
Pagliani (1944), Reinhard (1966) and Bigioggero et al. (1982-83) for 4; Hunziker (1966),
Joos (1969) and Bigioggero et al. (1977)
for 5; Vialon (1966) and Barisone et al. (1979) for 6; unpublished data by Fiora for 7;
unpublished data by Colombo and Tunesi for 8; Fenoglio and Rigault (1959)
and unpublished data by Grasso for 9.
% vol.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Qtz
Kfs
Pl
%An
Hbl
Bt and /
or Chl
Ms
Other
26-54
24-44
19-38
29
-
19-40
26-43
24-35
37
-
7-9
35-38
35-4
n.d.
-
30-35
15-34
15-36
15-25
-
20-33
15-35
30-57
<26
-
30-45
10-25
15-25
2-5
-
80-90
or Pl
0-4
-
9
62
9
30-35
8
20-22
0-7
47-49
22-35
4-9
2-8
0.7
3-10
0.7
14-23
0.3
5-15
2-14
2
8-20
0-8
8
4-8
10-20
3
tr.
5-15
1
10
3
12-20
1-3
by calcitic marbles while in the other by
dolomitic ones.
The Candoglia and Ornavasso marbles occur
as quite small lenses (up to 30 m of thickness)
that are interlayered within the pre-alpine highgrade paragneisses of the Kinzigitic Complex
of the Ivrea-Verbano Zone (Southern Alps).
Their grain size is medium to coarse and the
main colour is pink with frequent dark-green
layers containing diopside and tremolite; other
subordinate minerals are quartz, epidote,
sulphides, Ba-feldspar, barite and occasionally
phlogopite. The chromatic, textural and
compositional features are responsible for the
different variety of marbles (pink, white, grey,
and venato marble). The Candoglia marble is
not sold on the market because the two
working quarries belong to the «Veneranda
Fabbrica del Duomo». of Milan and the
produced stone (about 1 000 t/y) is only used
for the restoration of the Cathedral (Ferrari da
Passano, 2000). On the contrary, two varieties
of the less valuable coarse-grained Ornavasso
marble are sold on the market: Grigio Boden
and Rosa Valtoce. The latter has an
inhomogeneous colour due to the presence of
dark veins. The production is rather limited
(overall less than 400 m 3/y) because of the
heterogeneity of the design and colour and,
above all, due to the intense jointing of the
material. The excavations are in part performed
in a large sized underground space, with the
necessity of consolidation works and static
controls (Oreste and Peila, 1998; Fornaro and
Bosticco, 1999). Both the open pit and
underground exploitation mainly uses diamond
wire technology.
The Crevoladossola marble belongs to a thin
layer of the Mesozoic metasedimentary cover
embedded within the lower Penninic Units
(Monte Leone and Antigorio nappes); its
attitude is quite steep as the regional one is. It
has a fine grain size and different colours
(yellowish or light blue) due to the
Contemporary natural stones from the Italian western Alps (Piedmont and Aosta Valley Regions)
concentration of phlogopite, sulphides or
tremolite that are associated to the main
mineral, dolomite; the varieties on the market
are Palissandro Bluette, Palissandro Blu
Nuvolato, Palissandro Classico and
Palissandro Oniciato. The Crevoladossola
marble has physical and mechanical properties
more anisotropic than the Candoglia and
Ornavasso ones. It is a stone of historical
importance that has been used in some famous
monuments in Lombardy, such as the Arco
della Pace in Milan and the Cathedral in Pavia
(Vago and Zezza, 2000), but today it is used for
internal linings, furnishings and objects of
value, especially the Palissandro Classico and
Oniciato varieties. The maximum production is
.
10 000 m3/y, which includes blocks for frames
and workable under-sized blocks.
Beola and Serizzo (C1 and C2 in Fig. 1) are
the most important stones from the Ossola
district, due to the abundance of quarries and
extracted materials. Based on the chromatic
and/or structural features or on the
geographical area of provenance, the main
varieties of beola and serizzo are (Regione
Piemonte, 2000): Beola Bianca, Grigia,
Ghiandonata, Favalle; Serizzo Antigorio,
Formazza, Sempione, Monte Rosa.
Most of these stones are orthogneisses that
are derived from Permian granites (270-280
Ma), which are similar to the Graniti dei Laghi
but which have been overprinted by alpine
structural and metamorphic events.
Beola (Fig. 2 and Table 1) is characterised
by a sparkly grey or a silver white colour and a
fine-to-medium grain size; it shows marked
foliation, which is usually associated to a
strong lineation, due to the alignment of the
tourmaline crystals or to the stretching of the
K-feldspar porphyroclasts. Beola Bianca
Vogogna and Beola Verde Vogogna (or
Quarzite Bianca and Quarzite Verde) have a
very fine grain size and a mylonitic foliation,
that were formed during the late-Alpine backthrusting phase of the Austroalpine nappes over
the Ivrea-Verbano Zone. Beola Bianca
Vogogna is possibly an orthogneiss, whereas
Beola Verde Vogogna is a metabasite that is
215
mainly composed of chlorite, epidote and
albite. The attitude of Beola is sub-vertical; it
geologically pertains (Fig. 1) to the
Austroalpine domain (Beola Bianca and Verde
Vogogna), to the Upper Penninic Units (Beola
Bianca and Ghiandonata from the Monte Rosa
Zone; Beola Grigia from the MoncuccoOrselina-Isorno Zone, Bigioggero et al., 198283), and to the Lower Penninic Unit of the
Monte Leone Nappe (Beola Favalle, Argentea
and Isorno, Bigioggero and Zezza, 1997).
Detailed geological, petrographical,
geochemical, physical and mechanical features
of Beola are reported in Cavallo et al. (a, this
volume).
The transformation from block to slabs can
be done by sawing (34% of the excavated rock)
or manual wedging (29% of the excavated
rock).
Serizzo is a granitic/granodioritic orthogneiss
(Fig. 2 and Table 1) with a darker colour and
larger grain size than those of the beola
varieties; it is characterised by a foliated
texture which is rarely associated with a
lineation; it geologically mainly pertains to the
lower Penninic Unit (Fig. 1) of the Antigorio
Nappe (Serizzo Antigorio, Formazza and
Sempione) and, in one case, to the Upper
Penninic Unit of the Monte Rosa Zone (Serizzo
Monterosa). The attitude of the Antigorio
nappe is sub-horizontal and the thickness is
about 1000 m: this explains the great
exploitation of the Serizzo varieties.
The transformation from blocks to slabs can
be done by sawing (40% of the excavated rock)
or by manual wedging (4% of the excavated
rock).
The VCO quarries, that are located at
altitudes which vary between 300 and 1300 m
above-sea-level, mainly pertain to the Baveno
(granite), Mergozzo (granite + marble),
Ornavasso (marble), Beura Cardezza and
Trontano (beola), Premia, Formazza,
Trasquera, Varzo and Crodo (serizzo), and to
the Crevoladossola (serizzo + beola + marble)
municipalities.
Further details on the dimension stones of
this particular district can be found in
216
R. SANDRONE, A. COLOMBO, L. FIORA, M. FORNARO, E. LOVERA, A. TUNESI and A. CAVALLO
Bigioggero and Zezza (1997) and Cavallo et al.
(b, this volume).
The transformation from blocks to slabs can
be done by sawing (13% of the excavated rock)
or manual wedging (32% of the excavated
rock).
The 96 quarries that were authorized in
autumn 2003 lie in the Bagnolo Piemonte (68
quarries), Rorà (20 quarries) and Luserna San
Giovanni (8 quarries) municipalities at altitudes
that range from 900 m to 1500 m.
In the year 2002,
. there was . an overall
production of 331 604 t (≅. 125 600 m 3.) of
«workable stone» and 512 156 t (≅ 194 000
m 3 ) of blocks for river bank defence and
retaining walls.
Different bodies of a granodioritic-tonalitic
composition (Fig. 3) crop out in the lower
Chisone Valley (C4 in Fig.1) and intrude the
monometamorphic graphite-bearing sequence.
It is from one of these bodies that the well
known and by now historical Malanaggio
Stone (also known as Malanaggio Diorite)
THE LUSERNA STONE BASIN (LSB) AND THE
OTHER STONES FROM THE DORA-MAIRA MASSIF
Luserna Stone (Sandrone et al., 2000; 2001;
Sandrone, 2001) is a leucogranitic orthogneiss
(Fig. 3 and Table 1) probably of the Lower
Permian age, that is characterized by a micro«Augen» texture and grey-greenish or locally
pale blue colour. Luserna Stone has a subhorizontal attitude, with a marked foliation that
is mostly associated to a visible lineation: it
geologically pertains to the Dora-Maira Massif
(see the review in Sandrone et al., 1993) and it
outcrops in a quite large area (approximately
50 km 2) in the Cottian Alps, on the border
between the Turin and Cuneo provinces (C3 in
Fig. 1).
Luserna Stone
R2
Cervo Valley Syenitic
Complex
Perosa Stone
Vico and Traversella
ella
Diorite
Malanaggio Stone
2000
Susa Valley leucogneiss
Cogne-Valsavarenche
metatonalite
Sesia Zone albitic gneisss
mo di
mo
gb di
di
1000
sye di
to
qz mo
sye
qz sye
1000
grd
gr
alk gr
2000
3000
R1
Fig. 3 – Cumulative R1R2 diagram (De La Roche et al., 1980) for Luserna, Perosa and Malanaggio Stones, Susa Valley
leucogneiss, Sesia Zone albitic gneiss, Syenitic Complex of the Cervo Valley, Vico and Traversella Diorite and CogneValsavarenche metatonalite. Abbreviations: mo di = monzodiorite; mo = monzonite; gb di = gabbrodiorite; di = diorite; sye
di = syenodiorite; to = tonalite; grd = granodiorite; qz mo = quartz monzonite; sye = syenite; gr = granite; qz sye = quartz
syenite; alk gr = alkali granite. Data from Pagliani (1954), Vialon (1966) and Sandrone et al. (1982) for Luserna Stone,
Vialon (1966) and unpublished data by Sandrone for Perosa and Malanaggio Stones, Cadoppi (1990) for Susa Valley
leucogneiss, Lattard (1974) for Sesia Zone albitic gneiss, Bigioggero et al. (1994) for the Syenitic Complex of the Cervo
Valley, Van Marcke de Lummen and Vander Auwera (1990) and unpublished data by Colombo and Tunesi for Vico and
Traversella Diorite, Novarese (1894) and Fenoglio and Rigault (1959) for Cogne-Valsavarenche metatonalite.
Contemporary natural stones from the Italian western Alps (Piedmont and Aosta Valley Regions)
originates, while from another body is still
quarried Perosa Stone. This is composed of
quartz, albite, chlorite, biotite, actinolitic
hornblende, zoisite and clinozoisite/epidote;
garnet, apatite, sphene, calcite and ores are also
present as accessory minerals. The only
functioning quarry is situated in the
Municipality of Pomaretto in the province of
Turin and it has a declared production of more
.
than 2 000 m3/y of «workable stone», which is
obtained exclusively through the use of
explosives.
In the past there were numerous gneiss
quarries in the lower Susa Valley (Barisone et
al., 1992; Fiora and Gambelli, 2003), but at
present only one is worked and this quarry was
recently re-activated in the Municipality of
Bussoleno in the Turin province. This gneiss,
called San Basilio Stone (C5 in Fig. 1), is also
known on the market as Adrian White. This is a
tourmaline-rich leucocratic orthogneiss with
granitic composition (Fig. 3) of a colour that
ranges from white to greyish-white, with
foliation defined by the orientation of the mica
lamellae and the tourmaline blasts. The
fundamental mineralogical components are, in
descending order of quantity, quartz,
microcline, albite, tourmaline and phengite.
The foreseen mean production of «workable
.
stone» is around 10 000 m 3 /y at a full
production regime.
Barge quartzite, known on the market as
Bargiolina (Sandrone et al., 1999; Fiora et al.,
2000d; 2002), is a perfectly splittable phengiterich quartzite with different colours (yellow,
greyish-green, grey and more rarely white) that
crops out over an area of 1.5 km 2 on the
western slope of Mount Bracco, in the lower Po
valley (D in Fig. 1).
From a geological point of view, it belongs
to the Mesozoic cover of the Dora-Maira
Massif and it represents the product of the
alpine metamorphic and structural
transformations of an arenaceous sediment,
which was deposited on the Hercynian
basement during the eo-Triassic stages of
marine ingression (Vialon, 1966).
It is an easy-to-work stone with natural
217
splitting due to its plain-schistose texture and it
has an elevated strength and hardness due to its
mineralogy (Table 2). It has been used for
centuries in the building trade for tile roofing
and for internal and external paving. It is now
greatly penalised by competition from a
Brazilian quartzite and is only extracted in
.
limited quantities (5 102 t of «workable stone»
in the year 2002) from one single quarry in the
Municipality of Barge in the Cuneo province.
In the high Germanasca valley (B3 in Fig. 1),
a series of marble layers occurs. They belong to
the polymetamorphic basement of the DoraMaira Massif (Borghi et al., 1984), have been
quarried since 1600 and are known as Perrero
Marble or Faetto Marble (Peretti, 1938; Gola
and Pelizza, 1971). At present only a few
hundred cubic metres are extracted each year
from one single quarry in the Municipality of
Prali in the province of Turin.
THE GNEISSES FROM THE SESIA-LANZO ZONE
Apart from Beola Vogogna, other types of
gneiss come from the Sesia-Lanzo Zone: Verde
Argento Granite, Verde Selene Granite, Verde
Oropa Granite, Verde Aosta Granite and
Courtil Stone (Bottino et al., 1989; Fiora and
Fiussello, 1998).
From the geological point of view, the first
four belong to the Eclogitic Micaschists
Complex while the last one belongs to the
Gneiss Minuti Complex (Dal Piaz, 1999, with
references).
Verde Argento Granite and Verde Selene
Granite are both jadeite-bearing metagranites,
and this mineral is responsible for the green
colour of the rock. Apart from jadeite their
mineral composition is given by quartz, albite,
phengite, epidote, microcline, garnet, sphene,
apatite, zircon and sometimes fluorite (Fiora et
al., 2000b). Verde Argento is quarried in only
one quarry in the Settimo Vittone Municipality
in the Turin province with a production of
.
about 1 500 m 3 /y of «workable stone» and
Verde Selene is quarried in two quarries in the
Tavagnasco Municipality in the province of
218
R. SANDRONE, A. COLOMBO, L. FIORA, M. FORNARO, E. LOVERA, A. TUNESI and A. CAVALLO
Turin with an overall production of about
.
20 000 m3/y (C6 in Fig.1).
Verde Oropa Granite is a heterogeneous
gneiss in which leucocratic domains alternate
with melanocratic ones: the latter are green in
colour and partially preserve eclogitic
paragenesis. Its mineralogy is given by quartz,
phengite, omphacite, garnet and epidote while
sphene, apatite and zircon are also present in
accessory quantities and white mica, green
biotite, actinolite, aegirine and albite are
present as retrogression products. It is quarried
just above the Oropa sanctuary in the province
of Biella.
Verde Aosta or Verde Montey Granite (C6 in
Fig. 1) is also an orthogneiss whose fundamental
mineralogical components are quartz, phengite,
albite, epidote, garnet, green biotite and green
amphibole; the common accessories are apatite,
zircon, calcite and sphene. Rare relics of Napyroxene and allanite are also present. At the
moment this rock, which was extracted in the
Donnaz Municipality in the Aosta province and
.
whose production was of about 2 000 m3/y of
sawing blocks, is not quarried.
Courtil Stone (C7 in Fig. 1) is a gneiss that is
made up of quartz, albite, epidote, chlorite,
green biotite, greenish-blue amphibole, calcite,
garnet and abundant sulphides. The grain size
is generally rather fine and varies from point to
point according to the mineralogy. It is
quarried in the Pont Bozet Municipality in the
Aosta province and the yearly production of
.
«workable stone» is about 1 000 m3 compared
.
to 1 800 m3 of quarried material; it is processed
both by natural splitting and sawing.
THE «GREEN MARBLE»
FROM THE AOSTA VALLEY
From the geological point of view, the Green
Marble (E in Fig.1) is a metaophicalcite that
mostly belongs to the Combin nappe and to a
lesser extent to the Zermatt-Saas nappe of the
Piemonte Zone (Dal Piaz et al., 2001, with
references).
Quarried in the Aosta Valley since the
twenties and sold on the market with the generic
name of Verde Alpi (Fiora and Ferrarese, 1998;
Ferrarese et al., 1999), it shows a remarkable
textural and chromatic heterogeneity, as it
includes both tectonic breccias and, to a much
lesser extent, sedimentary breccias. The first are
made up of angular fragments of serpentinite
immersed in a clear or greenish matrix of
carbonates and silicates, while in the second
case the green serpentinite clasts are together
with white marble clasts. The design created by
the carbonatic veins and the colour that ranges
from green to greenish-black of the serpentinite
portions are of particular importance from the
merchandise point of view. A great
heterogeneity of these rocks can sometimes be
found in individual quarries, and sometimes
these individual quarries produce several
varieties.
There are about twenty authorized quarries
and a little more that half of these are still in
production. These quarries can be found in the
three extraction basins of Issogne, Gressoney
and Media Valle (the Middle of the Valley).
The overall production increased between 1999
.
.
and 2002 from 5 000 to 6 000 m 3 /y of
profitable material, with a quarry yield that
varies between 30 and 40%.
The basins, the quarries of origin and the
mineralogical composition (in decreasing order
of abundance) are reported in Table 2 for the
main varieties on the market: the latter should
be considered as an estimate, taking into
consideration the great variability of the rock
from point to point.
Although not belonging to green marble
from a market point of view, Verde Cheran is
here mentioned as it also comes from the
Piemonte Zone. It is a «prasinite» (greenschist)
that is quarried in the Municipality of Verrayes
.
and its present production is about 1 200 m3/y
of workable stone with a yield of about 30%.
OTHER STONES
Other stones are exploited in Piedmont for
ornamental use: the rocks of the Valle del
Cervo pluton (Cervo Valley or Biella pluton)
and Traversella stock, which are referred to the
Contemporary natural stones from the Italian western Alps (Piedmont and Aosta Valley Regions)
219
TABLE 2
The main varieties of the Green Marble from the Aosta Valley on the market: quarrying basin,
quarry of origin and mineralogical composition in decreasing order of abundance.
Mineral symbols according to Kretz (1983): Atg = Antigorite; Brc = brucite; Cal = Calcite;
Chl = chlorite; Ctl = chrysotile; Di = diopside; Dol = dolomite; Grt = garnet;
Mag = magnetite; Spl = spinel; Tlc = talc; Tr = tremolite.
Market varieties
Basin
Quarry
Mineralogical composition
Verde Fleuran
Issogne
Champdepraz
Atg, Cal, Mag
Verde Montjovet
Issogne
Montjovet
Tr, Cal, Dol, Atg, Di, chromian Mg-Chl
Verde Alpi Gressoney
Chiaro
Gressoney
Perletoa
Atg, Cal, sulphides, Di, Mg-Chl
Verde Alpi Gressoney
Scuro
Gressoney
Perletoa
Atg, Ctl, Cal, Dol, sulphides
Verde Alpi Gressoney
(or Aosta)
Gressoney
Perletoa
Cal, Ctl, Tr, Tlc, Mg-Chl
Verde Patrizia
Gressoney
Ciuken Novers
Atg, Cal, Tr, Di, Mag, Mg-Chl
Verde Moderno
(or Golette)
Media Valle
Golette (Verrayes)
Cal, Atg, Tr, Di, Mag
Verde Rameggiato
Media Valle
Croce di San
Martino (Verrayes)
Atg, Cal, Mag, sulphides
Verde Aver
Media Valle
Aver
Atg, Cal, Tr, Mag, sulphides
Verde Maisonetta
Media Valle
Maisonetta
Atg, Cal, Di, Mag, sulphides
Verde Assoluto
Media Valle
Vencorere Prelaz
(Verrayes)
Atg, Cal, Mag
Verde Damascato
Media Valle
Plan de Verrayes
Cal, Dol, Atg, Tr, chromian
Mg-Chl, Mg-Chl, Brc, Mag
Verde Chiesa
Media Valle
Morge Raffort
Atg, Tr, Cal, Mag, Mg-Chl
Verde St. Denis
Media Valle
Blavesse (St. Denis) Atg, Cal, Mag, Spl
Verde St. Nicolaus
Media Valle
Champlong
(St. Denis)
Atg, Cal, Tr, Mg-Chl, Grt, Di, Spl
Verde Issorie
Media Valle
Issorie (Châtillon)
Atg, Cal, Dol, Tr, Di, Mg-Chl
same alpine magmatic event, and the Mesozoic
marbles from the Cuneo province.
The first ones pertain to the largest
Oligocene pluton of the Western Italian Alps
intruded in the eclogitic micaschists of the
Sesia-Lanzo Zone. According to Bigioggero et
al. (1994), the pluton consists of monzogranitic rocks (Granitic Complex) in the core
surrounded by a discontinuous rim of syenitic
rocks (Syenitic Complex) and, finally, by a
wide rim of monzonitic rocks (Monzonitic
Complex). A subdivision in Complexes rather
220
R. SANDRONE, A. COLOMBO, L. FIORA, M. FORNARO, E. LOVERA, A. TUNESI and A. CAVALLO
than in lithological units is preferred because of
the heterogeneity of rock types: for example,
locally, the syenites gradually change their
composition into monzonites.
Sienite della Balma (Fiora et al., 1999;
2000b) is the most famous quarried stone of the
Valle del Cervo pluton (F in Fig. 1); its
exploitation was abandoned but has now begun
again. The rock has a typical grey-violet
colour, medium grain size and a well
developed magmatic flow foliation. Its
mineralogical composition (Table 1) is: Kfeldspar (orthoclase), plagioclase (andesine),
Mg-hornblende, biotite, diopside and scarce
quartz. Sphene is the distinctive accessory
mineral; the others are apatite, zircon and ores.
K-feldspar typically occurs as megacrysts with
Carlsbad twinning and perthitic exsolutions; its
colour mainly influences the colour of the rock.
The quarrying activity at present involves two
quarries: the Cava Vej della Balma (reactivated
in the year 2003) and the Cava Colombari, both
of which are located in the San Paolo Cervo
Municipality in the Biella province. The
estimated mean yearly production for the two
.
quarries is about 2 000 m 3 of «workable
stone».
Monzo-granite was also used in the past as
ornamental stone. It has a reddish colour,
medium-to-coarse grain size and pseudoporphyritic texture. Its mineralogical
composition differs from that of syenite
because of the smaller amount of Mghornblende and the lack of pyroxene
(diopside).
Traversella stock (Van Marcke de Lummen
and Vander Auwera, 1990; unpublished data by
Colombo and Tunesi) crops out on the left side
of Val Chiusella (near Ivrea) and it intrudes the
eclogitic micaschists of the Sesia-Lanzo Zone,
as the Biella pluton does. The prevailing rock
type is quite homogeneous in composition
because only the external parts of the intrusive
body are visible; it varies from quartzmonzonites to quartz-diorites because of the
variable content of K-feldspar. The grain size is
medium-to-fine, the colour is dark green to
light grey and the rock often presents igneous
and metasedimentary xenoliths that negatively
influence the general aspect. The mineralogical
composition is: plagioclase, biotite,
hornblende, clinopyroxene (augite) and
variable amounts of K-feldspar and quartz. The
biotite also locally shows coarse pecilitic
lamellae (up to 4 mm in length). The fine
grained samples have orthopyroxene
(hypersthene) associated with clinopyroxene.
The accessory minerals are apatite, zircon,
sphene and ores.
The quarried stone is sold on the market in
two varieties that basically differ according to
their colour: a darker grey for Vico Diorite and
lighter grey for Traversella Diorite. The
physic-mechanical characteristics are basically
the same and are always excellent (Fiora et al.,
2000c). There are 4 quarries at present working
and these are located in the Vico Canavese and
Traversella Municipalities in the province of
Turin (G in Fig. 1). The overall production is of
.
about 8 500 m3/y of «workable stone».
In the Cuneo province, in the area around
Mondovì (B4 in Fig. 1), which was once the
main Piedmontese marble yielding basin
(Badino et al., 2001) there are still some
historical quarries which are partially working,
though with a limited overall production
.
.
(1 000-2 000 m3/y of quarried material, with
30-40% «workable stone»). These quarries
exploit lithotypes belonging to the calcareousdolomitic Mesozoic Briançonnais succession of
the Dolomie di S. Pietro dei Monti (Vanossi,
1974a; 1974b). The materials are known as
Bigio di Moncervetto Marble, Verzino and
Bigio di Frabosa. The latter, which is not at
present in production, is of interest for the
future for the restoration works of the Chapel
of the Shroud in the Turin Cathedral. Ormea
Black Marble (B5 in Fig. 1) is found at the top
of this sequence. The quarrying of this marble
has recently been re-organised and the quarry
has modern mechanisation and sophisticated
working techniques for slabs, kerbstones,
handmade articles and even for «aged» bricks
and tiles, which are particularly appreciated in
urban furnishings in many Ligurian Riviera
.
resorts. A total of 3-4 000 m3/y of sawn blocks
Contemporary natural stones from the Italian western Alps (Piedmont and Aosta Valley Regions)
are obtained from the quarried material with a
yield of 30%. The use of small-sized blocks for
Belgian blocks leads to an overall yield of
more than 40%.
In the Aosta Valley, apart from the «Green
Marbles» and the Courtil Stone, some other
stones are at present quarried for local external
use, for road paving and building coverage.
This is the case, for example, of Cogne Stone
which takes its name from the municipality it
comes from, and of Senagy Stone which is
quarried in the Municipality of Aymavilles (C8
in Fig. 1). The quarried quantities are 800 m3/y
.
(a yield of 600 m3/y) and 35 000 m3/y (a yield
.
3
of 3 000 m /y), respectively. From the
geological point of view both stones belong to
a tonalitic-granodioritic Permian pluton,
included in the Paleozoic Briançonnais schists,
that crop out in the Cogne valley and
Valsavarenche, whose most common lithotype
is a biotite-amphibole-bearing metatonalite
(Fig. 3 and Table 1) with a medium-fine grain
size. Finally, Morgex Stone (H in Fig. 1),
which is a calcschist that geologically belongs
to the Sion-Courmayeur Zone, was once used
to a great extent for roof tiles (Clerici and
Pelizza, 1986; Frisa Morandini, 1986) but is
today rarely quarried both because of site
protection reasons (Tête d’Arpy, a lookout
point in front of Mont Blanc) and because of
the competition from other Piedmont and
Lombardy stones and from abroad (Fiora et al.,
2001).
REMARKS ON THE EXPLOITATION
AND PROCESSING
The considered rocks are mostly exploited by
a hill side development. A descending
development method is used from the higher
quotes, using slices - sub-horizontal or
sometimes very upward sloping - mostly where
systematic discontinuity points exist which
assist the splitting of the regular ornamental
stone blocks. The splitting of the quarry
benches is obtained through the use of
explosives (using detonating cord as a «cutoff
221
agent» and sometimes blasting powder as a
«thrust agent»). The blast holes are parallel and
arranged in row with small intervals.
Simultaneous blasting is carried out in an area
that is sufficiently large to let the blocks move.
The necessary creation of a «free surface» for
the block exploitation, which in the past was
performed by explosives, is nowadays more
often performed using a diamond wire machine
(Cardu et al., 2000; Lovera et al. 2001;
Fornaro, 2001).
The green marble quarrying techniques,
given the intrinsic heterogeneity of the deposits
and the fragile nature of the materials that have
to be extracted, require quarrying from the top
(but also for site safety reasons) and systems
for the detachment of the stone from above
without the use of explosives. Open pit
quarrying, mostly on the hill side and rarely
from the top (given the greater visual impact on
the countryside) is carried out in steps, at
various levels with the use of diamond wire
and chain saws. High benches are cut and then
overturned onto the quarry yard.
Some quarries are exploited underground,
carrying out a selective excavation and
quarrying the best and soundest material. This
option can be taken for both environmental and
economic reasons, avoiding the removal of
thick unexploitable overburdens. Quarrying is
performed in voids and is carried out using
tunnel chain cutters, which are indispensable
for blind advancement. The subsequent
production lowerings take place using mixed
techniques: diamond wire-saws and chain
cutters are used together to cut low benches.
«Pillars» (junctions between tunnels) or «rib
pillars» (placed between parallel tunnels close
together) are usually left in place.
In a VCO quarry block handling is
traditionally performed by a derrick, instead in
an LSB quarry it is carried out by large frontend loaders, characterised by an eclectic
application which requires service ramps for
each exploited level. The use of diamond wire
machines (with sintered tools) is at present very
popular also in siliceous rock quarries and,
most of the time, the producers design «made
222
R. SANDRONE, A. COLOMBO, L. FIORA, M. FORNARO, E. LOVERA, A. TUNESI and A. CAVALLO
to measure» diamond wires that are adapted for
the different rock types, thus optimising the
services and diminishing the costs.
«Small» quarry wastes are considered
essential elements for quarry management: they
are used, at the beginning of the quarry
development, for the temporary ramps and, at
the end of the exploitation, for the quarry
rehabilitation.
A typical quarry management in the VCO
basin involves 4 people (one of them is usually
the owner); the exploitation is organized with a
derrick, an excavator, 1-2 tractor loaders and 6-7
hard rock drillers. Wire saws are also used in
most of the quarries. The total installed power in
.
the whole basin is about 46 000 kW (85%
diesel), with a fuel and electricity consumption of
about 3·106 l/y and 4.5·106 kWh/y, respectively.
A typical quarry management in the LSB
involves 2 people (one of them is usually the
owner); the exploitation is organized with an
excavator, a tractor loader and 2-3 hard rock
drillers. The total installed power in the whole
.
basin is about 23 000 kW (100% diesel), with a
fuel consumption of about 106 l/y (Lovera et
al., 2001; Radicci and Sandrone, 2001a).
In the VCO district there are also 155
manufacturing plants that essentially process
the local rocks. A typical manufacturing plant
includes an open air block storage with one or
more gantry cranes, a shed where all the
machines (e.g. gang saws, block and bridge
saws, flaming machines, polishing lines) are
located and a building for the offices.
The workers employed in the manufacturing
plants can vary from 2 to 40: up to 8 employees
for nearly 33% of the manufacturing plants and
15 or more for about another 33%. In the small
manufacturing plants, the storage and the
buildings cover less than 1000 m 2 and the
.
energy consumption is nearly 100 000 kWh/y.
In the large manufacturing plants, the storage
.
areas cover more than 2 000 m2 and the energy
.
consumption is more than 700 000 kWh/y;
there are also at least 4 overhead travelling
cranes and the same quantity of gang saws.
The total sludge production in the district
.
amounts to 70 000 t/y (Dino et al., 2003).
The products which reach the stone market
are mostly slabs (75%), squared blocks (20%),
which are mostly sold to other companies, and
consequently «mosaico» (split face pieces for
«crazy» paving), Belgian blocks and
kerbstones. The regional market, which
obviously includes the local one, uses 56% of
the output, while 36% of the production is
bound for the national market and at least 8%
for the international market.
In the LSB municipalities and in the
surrounding ones there are 45 manufacturing
plants, in which more than 80% of Luserna
Stone is processed (Sandrone et al., 1999).
The workers employed in the manufacturing
plants can vary from 1 to 30; in almost 40% of
these, there are less than 10 workers and in
about 10% there are more than 15. In the small
manufacturing plants, the storage and the
buildings cover less than 1000 m2. In the large
manufacturing plants, the storage areas and
.
.
buildings cover more than 10 000 m2 and 3 000
m2 respectively, and the energy consumption is
.
more than 400 000 kWh/y; there are also at
least 4 overhead travelling cranes and a gang
saw (Radicci and Sandrone, 2001b).
The total sludge production in the LSB
.
amounts to 16 000 t/y (Dino et al., 2003).
The products that reach the stone market are
mostly slabs (70%), kerbstones (20%), squared
blocks and Belgian blocks. The regional market
absorbs 56% of the production, 29% of the
production is instead bound for the national
market and 15% for the international market.
CONCLUSIONS
Quarrying activity for natural stones in
Piedmont and the Aosta Valley, though
concentrated in specific basins, also includes
small local productions and it represents an
important part both of the whole regional
quarrying sector, and of the general economy of
the mountain valleys, considering the connected
processing and the generated activities.
Moreover, the artistic and architectural
heritage, which has over the years used these
Contemporary natural stones from the Italian western Alps (Piedmont and Aosta Valley Regions)
rocks, requires the conservation not only of the
already existing monuments, but above all, of
the culture of the stone, which is today made
easier thanks to the modern technology that is
available and to the experience of the workers
which would otherwise be difficult to pass on.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to thank Luca Alciati,
Erica Gambelli, the Municipalities of Bagnolo
Piemonte, Luserna San Giovanni and Rorà, the
Provincia del Verbano Cusio Ossola and the
Regione Autonoma Valle d’Aosta for their help.
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