Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Discovering the stone heritage of southern Italy: technical properties of the Mondragone marble from Campania region

  • Published:
Environmental Geology

Abstract

The results of the geological characterization of an old stone building in southern Italy, are presented here. The Mondragone marble is a slightly metamorphosed carbonate rock, which was widely employed as monumental stone in the 18th century Royal Palaces of Naples and Caserta. In this paper, for the first time, this rock has been investigated with a thorough laboratory testing program, aimed at defining its mineralogical, physical and mechanical parameters. The two most important varieties of Mondragone marble were separately tested: the yellow and grey marbles (hereafter, YM and GM, respectively). The results obtained from physical tests (open porosity, dry density, specific gravity, water absorption coefficients, ultrasonic velocity) did not show marked differences between the two materials; in contrast, the mechanical strength tests (uniaxial compressive strength, point load strength, flexural strength) showed better behaviour of YM than for GM. After a tentative comparison with other well known carbonate rocks from Italy, some considerations on the response of Mondragone marble to local weathering were conducted. In particular, the weathering typologies were related to the particular texture of the brecciated marble and the different strength resistances displayed by the various constituents of the rock.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 9.
Fig. 10.A
Fig. 11.
Fig. 12.
Fig. 13.
Fig. 14.
Fig. 15.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Blanco G (1993) Ornamental stones in architecture (in Italian). La Nuova Italia Scientifica, Roma

  • Calcaterra D, Cappelletti P, Langella A, Morra V, de' Gennaro R, Colella A (2000) The building stones of the ancient centre of Naples (Italy): the Piperno from Phlegrean Fields. Contributions to the knowledge of a long-time used stone. J Cultural Heritage 1(4):415–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cestari G (1965) Geological description of Mt Massico Group (Caserta) (in Italian). Boll Serv Geol It 86:45–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Corbella E (1996) Manual of marbles, stones, granites (in Italian). CD-ROM, ExNovo Edizioni, Milano

  • Deere DU, Miller RP (1966) Engineering classification and index properties for intact rock. Tech report no AFWL-TR-65-116, Air Force Weapons Lab, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico

  • de' Gennaro M, Colella C, Langella A, Cappelletti P (1995) Decay of Campanian ignimbrite stoneworks in some monuments of the Caserta area. Sci Technol Cultural Heritage 4(2):75–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Di Girolamo P, Sgrosso I, de Gennaro R, Giurazzi S (2000) Metamorphic rocks in Campania (southern Italy): the 'Mondragone marbles'. Petrological and geological study. Boll Soc Geol It 119:761–766

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins AB (1998) Aspects of rock strength. Bull Eng Geol Environ 57:17–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Society for Rock Mechanics (1978) Suggested methods for determining sound velocity. Int J Rock Mech Mineral Sci Geomech Abstr 15:53–58

    Google Scholar 

  • International Society for Rock Mechanics (1979) Suggested methods for determining the uniaxial compressive strength and deformability of rock materials. Int J Rock Mech Mineral Sci Geomech Abstr 16:135–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Society for Rock Mechanics (1985) Suggested methods for determining the point load strength. Int J Rock Mech Mineral Sci Geomech Abstr 22:51–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NORMAL 7/81 (1981) Water absorption by total immersion and imbibition capacity (in Italian). CNR-ICR, Rome

  • NORMAL 11/85 (1985) Water absorption by capillarity (in Italian). CNR-ICR, Rome

  • NORMAL 22/86 (1986) Measurement of sound velocity propagation (in Italian). CNR-ICR, Rome

  • Penta F (1935) Building materials of southern Italy (in Italian). Fondazione Politecnica del Mezzogiorno d'Italia, Napoli

  • Regio Decreto no. 2232 (1939) Rules for acceptance of building natural stones (in Italian)

  • Studio Marmo (1992) Natural stones. Marbles and Granites from all over the world (in Italian). Angelo Pontecorboli Editore, Firenze

  • Tromsdorff V (1966) Progressive Metamorphose kieseliger Karbonatgesteine in den Zentralalpen zwischen Bernina und Simplon. Schweiz Min Petr Mitt 40(2):431–460

    Google Scholar 

  • UNI 9724/5 (1990) Indirect measurement of tensile strength by flexural strength (in Italian). Milano

Download references

Acknowledgements

Work was carried out with the financial support of the MIUR Progetti di ricerca di pertinenza Nazionale, Cofinanziamento 1999, granted to M. de'Gennaro.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Napoli '"Federico II'", Via Mezzocannone, 8, 80134 Napoli, Italy

    Roberto de Gennaro, Pio Di Girolamo & Maurizio de' Gennaro

  2. Sezione di Geologia Applicata, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Geotecnica, Università degli Studi di Napoli '"Federico II'", P.le Tecchio, 80, 80124 Napoli, Italy

    Domenico Calcaterra

  3. Dipartimento di Studi Geologici ed Ambientali, Università del Sannio, Via Port'Arsa, 11, 82100 Benevento, Italy

    Alessio Langella

Authors
  1. Roberto de Gennaro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Domenico Calcaterra
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pio Di Girolamo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Alessio Langella
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Maurizio de' Gennaro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roberto de Gennaro.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

de Gennaro, R., Calcaterra, D., Di Girolamo, P. et al. Discovering the stone heritage of southern Italy: technical properties of the Mondragone marble from Campania region. Env Geol 44, 266–276 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-002-0751-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-002-0751-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation