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travertine
Mar. 21st, 2016 07:56 amtravertine (TRAV-er-teen, TRAV-er-tin) - n., a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs.
When it's cold or ambient temperature water, it's sometimes called tufa. When the water seeps through deposited limestone, it is dissolved, then when the water comes into open air, the minerals are deposited as a new sedimentary stone. Stalactites and stalagmites are travertine. It's a relatively strong rock for its weight, and so was used in buildings. The most important travertine quarry near Rome were in the village of Tibur (modern Tivoli), and the mineral was called Tibur stone, or lapis tiburtinus, which last part became tivertino and then travertino in Italian, from whence we adopted it around 1730.
---L.
When it's cold or ambient temperature water, it's sometimes called tufa. When the water seeps through deposited limestone, it is dissolved, then when the water comes into open air, the minerals are deposited as a new sedimentary stone. Stalactites and stalagmites are travertine. It's a relatively strong rock for its weight, and so was used in buildings. The most important travertine quarry near Rome were in the village of Tibur (modern Tivoli), and the mineral was called Tibur stone, or lapis tiburtinus, which last part became tivertino and then travertino in Italian, from whence we adopted it around 1730.
---L.
