How does ALABASTER form?
Gypsum is a salt formed by precipitation in lakes and ponds subjected to intense evaporation (evaporite basins). As the water mass decreases, the saturation degree that is needed for the different salts to precipitate is reached. The accumulation of small gypsum crystals at the bottom …
Read More →History in the use of Alabaster
HISTORY OF ALABASTER In Egypt, both cultures, Fayum und Tasa, used alabaster palettes for grinding and mixing pigments with those who practiced the art of painting their eyes. Later generations of Egyptian craftsmen worked extensively on alabaster vases and bottles made for unguents and perfumes, …
Read More →The use of aragonese alabaster
ARAGONESE ALABASTER The abundance of alabaster in Aragon must have been crucial for its use in architecture, sculpture and decoration. There is no record of likely use by pre- Roman cultures, so perhaps the first ones to use alabaster stone in Aragon were the Romans, …
Read More →Alabaster stone in Aragon
ALABASTER EXTRACTING SITES Aragon has the privilege of having the largest known exploitable deposits of alabaster. There are two different sites, which are geographically separated. The most important one corresponds to the Fuentes-Azaila area, in the Tertiary Ebro Basin. The other area where this resource …
Read More →Alabaster stone uses
The uses of alabaster stone as traslucent building material, are determined by its features: it must always be used indoors, or protected against of rain, sometimes it is used to facilitate the entrance of daylight thanks to its translucency. Due to its relative scarcity and …
Read More →Alabaster transformation processes
The cut of Alabaster The work carried out at the sawmill can be described as follows: • Peeling with manual tools, like hammers, mallets or spikes. The useful fragments are classified in terms of size and quality for subsequent operations. • Sawing, with circular saws. …
Read More →Alabaster research and extraction
Alabaster occurs among sedimentary rocks formed in basins where evaporation has been significant, which has led to salts accumulation (evaporite basins). Series with plenty of gypsum are looked for, and the possible existence and likely location of alabaster beds are assessed. After checking in situ …
Read More →Alabaster classification
Sometimes, varieties of alabaster are defined on the basis of their origin, but it is normal to use mixed classifications in which other criteria are also introduced, such as historical or artistic ones, appearance and composition. On the basis of its composition, we can refer …
Read More →Alabaster properties and characteristics
Alabaster is characterized by the crystal size (less than 0.05 mm) disposed in an intimate framework that confers alabaster translucency and compactness. The first of these qualities provides alabaster with its characteristic beauty; the second one, combined with gypsum’s low hardness, is what makes this …
Read More →Alabaster composition
The chemical composition of alabaster is the same as that of gypsum: i.e. dihydrate calcium sulphate: CaSO3*2H2O. Gypsum can become dehydrated and lose the water molecules in greater o smaller proportion. If it dehydrates completely, the new mineral is called anhydrite (calcium sulphate, CaSO3). Although …
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