Caracterización mineralógica, petrológica y petrofísica del mármol comercial Rojo Alicante (Cavarrasa, Alicante)

Abstract

Rojo Alicante commercial marble which is extracted in Cavarrasa quarries (Alicante Province) is complex with regards to its petrology. It shows abundant breccia facies including tectonic, intraclastic and diagenetic breccias. The primary rock is a fossiliferous limestone (red pelagic limestone) with veins and stylolites (biomicrite). Fossils are mainly fragments of thin-walled shells of the pelecypods. Some ostracods, pellets and foraminifers are also present. Pelecypod fragments are unsorted and reach some millimeters in length. Oxidised Fe-minerals, quartz, micas, calcium phosphates, ilmenite and clay minerals are accessory minerals of Rojo Alicante commercial marble. The mineralogy, porosity, hygric behaviour, and mechanical and esthetical properties of Rojo Alicante described in this paper prove that Rojo Alicante commecial marble is a good building material.