![]() ![]() 1) that share similar appearance, as well as similar textural and mechanical features (see Farr et al. In the Italian geologic literature, the term peperino has been applied in referring to several different volcanic rocks of the Latium region of central Italy (Fig. We also describe the lithofacies sub-types, as well as the source conditions, compositions and eruption types to which the rock can relate. ![]() Given the widespread use of the term peperino, yet broad sense of its definition, we here complete a full review of the origin and development of the term. However, since its early definition, the term peperino has been applied to a variety of volcanic products that, beyond a generic common aspect, derived from quite different genetic processes. For example, Cas and Wright ( 1988) mention peperino in their chapter 4 on volcaniclastic deposits, while Fisher and Schmincke ( 1984) refer only to the piperno (another rock term derived from peperino, see below) from the Phlegraean Fields type locality, near Naples, as an example of welded fallout tuff (agglutinate). Other major textbooks usually describe peperites, yet seldom mention peperino. Rittmann 1967 MacDonald 1972 Kilburn and McGuire 2001). The term peperino (sometimes also reported as piperino) has been used as a rock descriptor in the international geologic literature and volcanology textbooks (e.g. To refer to the rocks from this type locality, the term peperino then shifted to peperite, which is now commonly used for clastic rocks comprising both igneous and sedimentary components, which were generated by essentially in-place disintegration and active mixing of intrusive magma, lava flows or hot volcaniclastic deposits with unconsolidated, typically wet sediments (Skilling et al. Scrope ( 1858) interpreted them as having originated by a “ violent and intimate union of volcanic fragmentary matter with limestone while yet in a soft state”. However, Scrope ( 1827) extended the use of the term peperino to describe clastic rocks from Limagne, in the Auvergne region of central France, which comprise mixtures of lacustrine limestone and basalt and resemble ground pepper. The French dictionary Le Petit Robert suggests the date of 1694 for the arrival of the word péperin in the French language to refer to a volcanic tuff employed as construction stone in the Roman region. Brown) volcanic rock formed of small grains of sand, cinders, etc. In the Oxford Dictionary (1982) peperino is defined as: “n. According to the Penguin Dictionary of Geology (1972), peperino is defined as: “A rock of mixed pyroclastic and sedimentary origin, including pyroclastic material, and weathered and eroded volcanic material (including scoriae, cinders, etc. 1960), that is a lithified, poorly sorted, deposit consisting of “floating” clasts suspended in a fine-grained matrix (Menzies 2009). Generally speaking, peperino is a kind of “diamictite” (sensu Flint et al. The term peperino (from the Latin root piper, pepper) was originally established in Italy to define peculiar light porous volcanic rocks with a granular texture (resembling ground pepper), used as construction stones since pre-Roman times. Our review is also addressed to archaeologists concerned with restoration initiatives and provenance studies, as well as to volcanologists studying the genetic processes of pyroclastic rocks and related naming conventions. Indeed, despite the common macroscopic aspect, peperino rocks can be associated with several different eruptive styles and emplacement mechanisms. In this review, we provide an overview of the use of this term, and an exhaustive review of the different rocks of central Italy defined as peperino, describing their distinctive textural features, as well as their eruptive sources and outcrop areas. These rocks are still in use for building ornaments, street furniture and artworks in central Italy today. In particular, these resistant volcanic rocks have been widely employed by the Etruscans and Romans since the seventh century BCE to produce sarcophagi and dimension stones, as well as architectural and ornamental elements. Among these, the best-known examples are represented by some phreatomagmatic deposits of the Colli Albani Volcanic District, near Rome (Italy), and ignimbrite deposits of the Cimini Mountains near Viterbo (Northern Latium, Italy), which have been widely employed in artefacts of historical and archaeological interest. The name peperino derives from the Italian word pepe (from the Latin word piper, pepper) and has been used in the common language for lithified volcanic deposits characterized by light grey through dark grey tones and granular textures, resembling that of ground pepper. ![]()
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