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Lava stones from Neapolitan volcanic districts in the architecture of Campania region, Italy

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Abstract

Results of a research carried out on the lavas from Campi Flegrei and Somma-Vesuvius volcanic districts are reported here. The lavas have been widely employed, since Roman age, in several important monumental buildings of the Campania region, mainly in the town of Naples and in its province. They are classified as trachytes (Campi Flegrei products), tephri-phonolites and phono-tephrites (Somma-Vesuvius complex) from a petrographical point of view. Sampling was carried out from well-known exploitation districts. A substantial chemical difference between the products of the two sectors was confirmed, while petrophysical characterization evidenced similarity among the two different materials, although some differences were recorded even in samples coming from the same exploitation site.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge an anonymous reviewer for the suggestions that helped to improve the paper. Work carried out within the “Progetto Dimostratore Campi Flegrei” of the Centro di Competenza Regionale per lo Sviluppo ed il Trasferimento dell’Innovazione Applicata ai Beni Culturali e Ambientali “INNOVA” and with the financial support of PRIN 2003—Scientific ref. M. de’ Gennaro.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological and Environmental Studies, Sannio University, Benevento, Italy

    Alessio Langella

  2. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Idraulica, Geotecnica ed Ambientale, “Federico II” Naples University, Naples, Italy

    Domenico Calcaterra

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, “Federico II” Naples University, Naples, Italy

    Piergiulio Cappelletti, Abner Colella, Maria Pia D’Albora, Vincenzo Morra & Maurizio de Gennaro

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  1. Alessio Langella
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  2. Domenico Calcaterra
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  3. Piergiulio Cappelletti
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  4. Abner Colella
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  5. Maria Pia D’Albora
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  6. Vincenzo Morra
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  7. Maurizio de Gennaro
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Correspondence to Alessio Langella.

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Langella, A., Calcaterra, D., Cappelletti, P. et al. Lava stones from Neapolitan volcanic districts in the architecture of Campania region, Italy. Environ Earth Sci 59, 145–160 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-009-0012-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-009-0012-x

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