Building with rocks
Easily pliable limestones, sandstones and igneus rocks are often used for some specific constructions, like frames, building fronts, columns and pillars. In some rustic buildings, especially on the mountains, thin natural layers made of slate are used instead of roof tiles.
For extremely elegant buildings or monuments, marble, tufa and alabaster are widely used.
As a precious covering, sedimentary rocks with very pretty drawings are used. They are called “onyxes”. Magmatic rocks, metamorphic and especially calcareous rocks, which can be easily polished and are resistant to tear and wear are widely used for interior flooring. Instead, for road flooring, river stones or even more resistant rocks like granites, porphyries, syenite and gneiss are used. Gravel and crushed stones are used for roadbeds and railway ballasts (the ground where asphalt and tracks are set). In order to protect riverbanks, lake or sea shores, big heavy and very resistant rocks are usually used, especially compact and dark effusive and metamorphic rocks.
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When walking along a tree-lined avenue in a crowded and traffic-congested city, wrapped up in our daily commitments, we do…
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8 November 2013
Magnets and superconductors
Which one of us has not played at attracting small pieces of iron with a magnet?
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6 September 2009
Oil fields beneath the ice
Con la graduale scomparsa del ghiaccio marino in seguito al...
13 May 2013
Small steps, great footprints
Have you ever wondered how much space is taken up by an apple or a steak?...
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8 November 2013
Magnets and superconductors
Which one of us has not played at attracting small pieces of iron with a magnet?
From the Multimedia section
Facts
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Volcanic activity of Vesuvio
One of the most famous volcanic disasters was the eruption of Vesuvio in 79 A.D....
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Mountains on the Earth
The different landscapes that we analysed in the previous section are distributed...
And in underground tunnels?
There are groups of terrestrial animals that eat insects, worms and other invertebrates...
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An artificial geyser
Electric and thermal power produced from geothermal energy depend on the existence of underground infiltrations...
Laterite and bauxite deposits
These deposits can be observed in those tropical areas that are characterized by...
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13 May 2011
Volcanic eruptions
The activity of some volcanoes is characterized by violent explosions...
Volcanic activity of Vesuvio
One of the most famous volcanic disasters was the eruption of Vesuvio in 79 A.D....
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Mountains on the Earth
The different landscapes that we analysed in the previous section are distributed...
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24 February 2011
And in underground tunnels?
There are groups of terrestrial animals that eat insects, worms and other invertebrates...
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13 May 2011
Volcanic eruptions
The activity of some volcanoes is characterized by violent explosions...
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Volcanic activity of Vesuvio
One of the most famous volcanic disasters was the eruption of Vesuvio in 79 A.D....