Calcareous Tufa

calcareous tufa

[kal′ker·ē·əs ′tü·fə]

(geology)

tufa

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Calcareous Tufa

 

or travertine, porous, cellular rock formed from the precipitation of calcium carbonate from hot or cold springs. It often contains impressions of plants and sometimes the shells of land or freshwater gastropods. It is characterized by a small density (1,400–1,800 kg/m³). In the USSR calcareous tufa commonly occurs near Piatigorsk, near Yerevan, in Podolia, and near Pudozh. It is used as a building material, as decorative stone, and for roasting lime.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.