PODPEČ (LITHIOTID) LIMESTONE 6 PODPEČ LIMESTONE (VARIABLES) 8 CONTENT OF STONES RASOTICA LIMESTONE (RUDIST LIMESTONE) 10 KAZLJE LIMESTONE 12 REPEN LIMESTONE 14 KOPRIVA LIMESTONE 16 LIPICA LIMESTONE 18 MARBLE 20 CIZLAKITE 22 GRANODIORITE 24 GABBRO 26 GRANITE 28 3 Welcome! This brochure provides you with an They are formed by the lithification of sediment that consists of accumulated sedimentary grains. interactive presentation of stones that adore Such accumulations occur when wind, water or gravity can no longer move the grains. This usual y the Montanistika building. It consists of four occurs at the foot of glaciers, in river valleys, in lakes, deserts, and especial y in the world’s seas parts: images of the stone’s texture and its and oceans. Sedimentary grains are formed in two ways. The first way is by the weathering and particular characteristics, images indicating erosion of older rocks. In the second, sedimentary grains are formed by precipitation directly ABOUT MONTANISTIKA its location within the building, comics, and from the water solution. Most of such grains are skeletons of various organisms (e.g. seashel s). additional information about the stone. When such a sediment lithifies, a rock called limestone is formed. In Slovenia, limestones are very common and picturesque rocks. All of the examples of sedimentary rocks in the Montanistika Enjoy exploring the world of stones – and have building belong to the limestone family. fun! SEDIMENTARY ROCKS The Montanistika building was designed in 1937 by architect France Tomažič. The two hammers above the entrance serve to indi- They are formed by crystallization from magma, also called lava, when it erupts and rises to the cate the meaning of the word montanistika surface. If they originate from deep below the Earth’s surface, the crystallization of magma takes (montanistics), which derives from the Latin place slowly, and therefore minerals have enough time to crystalize beautiful y. In this case, the word for mountain ( mons). Montanistics is rock forms and exhibits nicely shaped minerals of roughly equal size. If magma intrudes just the science of ores and mining, and develops below or erupts above the surface, it cools down quickly. In such cases, mineral grains only partly knowledge about the extraction of minerals crystalize and the remaining melt solidifies into a monotonous hard substance called the matrix. from the Earth’s crust. Today, the building Additional y, igneous rocks differ in chemical and consequently mineral composition. In the houses the Department of Geology of the Montanistika building there are four examples of igneous rocks, all coming from the depths of Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, the Earth. Among them, cizlakite is certainly the most beautiful; its Pohorje neighbour is granodi-University of Ljubljana. orite. Two foreign rocks – gabbro and granite – have been newly-installed in front of and inside the lift. IGNEOUS ROCKS The building interior is decorated with some of the most beautiful architectural stones from Slovenia, joined by a few stones from the area of the former Yugoslavia, while two of the re-cently instal ed stones are of foreign origin. They are formed by the alteration or, scientifical y speaking, metamorphosis of igneous, sedimen-The stones used are also interesting because tary or older metamorphic rocks. Metamorphosis happens at elevated pressures and temperatures they represent all three basic groups of rocks: and in the presence of liquids and gasses deep inside the Earth. It takes place at the junctions of sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous. We tectonic plates, where one plate drops below another (subduction) or due to the injection of magma invite you to come in and discover the secrets into the solid Earth’s crust. During the process of metamorphosis, the mineral composition and hidden in the stones of Montanistika. structure of the rock change, while the chemical composition remains unchanged. Metamorphic rocks are either granulose or schistose and differ from each other in their chemical composition. These are rare in Slovenia, and for this reason the marble, the single representative of the group, most likely comes from Macedonia. METAMORPHIC ROCKS 5 ENTRANCE STAIRCASE, HALL PODPEČ LIMESTONE (LITHIOTID LIMESTONE) Some wall panels of the entrance staircase, and the lip below the fresco in the hal . All of the wall panels of the entrance staircase some 180–190 million years ago. They lived in come from the Podpeč quarry near Ljubljana. shal ow tropical lagoons that were character-The most picturesque, recognizable and appre-istic for the calmer inner part of the extensive ciated variety is certainly limestone with lith-shallow-marine space of the so-called Dinaric iotids. Lithiotids are an extinct group of sea- (Adriatic) carbonate platform. Similar condi-shel s whose shape resembles today’s noble pen tions can be found today in the islands of the seashel s. We recognize them as long, slightly Bahamas in the Caribbean Sea, in the central uneven white stripes in the black limestone. Atlantic Ocean. Today, remains, i.e. rocks from These are longitudinal sections, but we can also this platform extend from Slovenia, through recognise shorter transverse sections. Lithiotid Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, all the way seashel s lived during the Early Jurassic epoch, south to Montenegro. 7 ENTRANCE STAIRCASE PODPEŠKI APNENEC ONCOID LIMESTONE PODPEČ LIMESTONE (OTHER VARIABLES) Wall panels of the entrance staircase. Alongside lithiotid limestone, we can observe up to a few centimetres in size with irregularly plates with other fossils on the wal s of the en-shaped concentric coatings. They are formed LIMESTONE trance staircase, especial y snails, brachiopods, when a sedimentary grain or shell is overgrown WITH SNAILS sponges, tiny foraminifers and heart-shaped with a slimy coating of cyanobacteria to which seashel s. Ooid limestones are also visible. Oo-tiny carbonate silt adheres. Since the oncoids ids are very smal , spherical grains that rather are constantly rolling, they take on an almost resemble fish roe (fish eggs) and can be seen spherical shape with ever new layers. Several better with the magnifying glass. They are stone slabs are cut by brownish jagged lines, formed by direct excretion from warm and so-called stylolite seams. They form by the dis-turbulent shallow seawater. The other interest-solving of limestone due to the high pressure ing grains are oncoids. They are lumpy grains under the load of younger layers. 9 HALL, UPPER STAIRCASES RUDIST THICKET RASOTICA LIMESTONE (RUDIST LIMESTONE) Wal s of the hall and staircases to upper floors. The most frequently used architectural stone ronment of the Dinaric carbonate platform; to-in the Montanistika building is the rudist lime-day, they can be found along the entire eastern stone, which is composed of rudist seashel s, periphery of the Adriatic Sea. Most of the wall typical inhabitants of shallow seas during the panels in the building are made from Rasotica Cretaceous period 65 to 100 million years limestone from the island of Brač, in Croatia. ago. These unusual y shaped seashel s had one Rasotica limestone boasts a spectrum of brown larger, horn-shaped shel , and another smal - colours and many beautiful y preserved light er other shell that served only as a cap. Rudist ochre rudist shel s. At the same time, they also seashel s usual y occur in groups, because they contain numerous other fossils such as snails, RUDIST BOUQUET served to support each other as they grew. They bryozoans, hydrozoans, foraminifers, crinoids, lived like lithiotids in the warm, shallow envi-and even rare corals. 11 KAZLJE LIMESTONE Entrance portal, dark floor panels, below the reception room and portals in the hal , side panels of the stairs ENTRANCE PORTAL, HALL, UPPER STAIRCASES to the upper floors, blocks on the staircase turners, bench bases, and the pedestal of statue on the upper floor. Rudist limestones are common in southern Slo-For the same reason a lot of organic matter re-venia and are particularly characteristic for the mained finely dispersed within the sediment. It Kras region, from which most of the varieties is this admixture that gives the Kazlje limestone employed in the Montanistika building origi-its characteristic dark colour. However, this nate. A dark Kazlje limestone with lighter, very same admixture also weakens it, which is why well preserved rudist seashel s is certainly one of such limestones weather very quickly outside, the most beautiful of these. It was quarried near which we can see on the entrance portal. Inside the vil ages of Avber and Kazlje. This limestone the mere 80 years of the building the limestone formed in closed lagoons or at the lagoon edges. has turned completely grey, and some of the Because their living environment was so calm, more resistant rudist shel s have begun to pro-fossils were able to remain so well preserved. trude from the surrounding rock surface. 13 REPEN LIMESTONE ENTRANCE STAIRCASE Stairs of the entrance staircase. RUDIST SHELL CAPRINIDA Light grey Repen limestone was quarried at whereas between them the darker debris of Repentabor (a Slovenian minority vil age in other rudist shel s can be seen. This limestone Italy) and on the Slovenian side of the border formed on the margins of the platform in the in quarries at Doline near Vrhovlje, in Povir, close vicinity of extensive rudist thickets that Lisično, Vitez, and Polževo. Today, only the adorned the passageways from the shallows first two are still active. This limestone con-into somewhat deeper seas. Because these ar-tains large rudist shel s of the Caprinidae fam-eas were subjected to strong waves and storms ily, which have both shel s shaped like horns, most of the thinner shel s of rudist seashel s and the upper is spiral y curved and resembles were crushed, and only the most robust and the shell of a snail. Caprinids of the Repen resilient Caprinids remained preserved. limestone are almost white and thick-shelled, 15 KOPRIVA LIMESTONE HALL, UPPER STAIRCASES Light floor panels in the hal , stairs of staircases to the upper levels, inner wall of the entrance portal. Kopriva limestone was cut in an old quar- limestone, all of the rudist seashel s in Ko-ry near the vil age of Kopriva, which is now priva limestone are crushed, which indicates abandoned and declared as a site of valua-a sedimentary environment of far greater en-ble natural heritage. It was also cut near the ergy. Nevertheless, we can find whole fossils vil ages of Gabrovica and Pliskovica. Today, between the rudist debris, like Nerinea snails, these quarries are largely abandoned, and they which tend to have both rather thick central only cut Kopriva limestone in the Kopriva columns as well as outer wal s. Which is what and Dolina quarries, where it passes into the made their shel s strong enough to survive Repen limestone. But the Kopriva variety is and remain preserved in such a severe envi-more homogenous and a bit darker due to its ronment. heavily crushed seashel s. Unlike the Repen 17 HALL LIPICA LIMESTONE Memorial plaque on the wall of the hal . Completely crushed rudist shel s are char- mixtures were washed away. This stone is stil acteristic of the Lipica limestone used in the intensively quarried today in quarries near Montanistika building, as it was formed in Lipica, where it is known as “uniform” or the most demanding and turbulent of envi- “unito” limestone. However, some layers in ronments. The shells are often fragmented the same quarry contain well-preserved rud-into millimetre-size grains, so that the lime-ist seashel s, whose cross-sections resemble stone takes on a uniformly monochromatic flowers, which is why this type of limestone is appearance, showing light grey to slightly called “rosy” or “fiorito” limestone. This vari-hazelnut tones. Light colours are an indica-ety is also light coloured. We can assume that tor of the limestone’s purity, as the organic the living environment of these seashel s was matter disintegrated and other coloured ad-relatively quiet, yet still very well oxygenated. 19 HALL MARBLE Frame moulding of the floor in the hal . Marble is a light granulose metamorphic rock. non-carbonate minerals, it can be grey to It is formed by the minerals calcite or dolo-black, pink, yellowish and more. The name mite, so its mineral composition is identical to marble on the ornamental stone market of-the sedimentary carbonate rocks (limestone ten incorrectly refers very broadly to stones and/or dolomite) from which it is also formed. that are not marbles. The term is often used But we can distinguish them easily, because for all polished ornamental stones, regard-fossils in the marble are never preserved due less of their characteristics and origin (e.g. to metamorphosis, whereas fossils occur fre-Hotavlje limestone). The provenance of the quently in limestones (and sometimes also marble used in the Montanistika building is in dolomite). If the marble is “pure”, it can be not entirely clear, but most likely comes from completely white, while if it contains other Northern Macedonia. 21 CIZLAKITE READING ROOM Corner with a washbasin in the reading room. Cizlakite is an intrusive igneous rock, i.e. it mainly composed of the minerals pyroxene was formed deep inside the Earth, from where (light green), amphibole (dark green) and the rock was very quickly lifted and pushed feldspar (white), as wel as quartz. Bright aplite PEGMATITE VEIN IN CIZLAKITE upwards, because the cizlakite of Pohorje is and pegmatite veins often intersect the parent a young rock that is only about 20 million rock. The rock is named after the vil age Ce-years old. The main uplift of the Pohorje area zlak on Pohorje, where it was first described, and its surroundings, where we find the only and which is one of only five deposits in Eu-intrusive igneous and metamorphic rocks in rope. Cizlakite is a highly valued Slovenian Slovenia, probably took place during the last architectural stone. Due to limited resources, peak of Alpine orogeny about 10 million years the quarry is closed today, and what is extract-ago. Cizlakite has a green colour because it is ed is used exclusively for restoration purposes. 23 GRANODIORITE GROUND FLOOR LECTURE ROOMS Corner with a washbasin in the P-05 lecture room. Granodiorite is an igneous (plutonic) rock. It country, i.e. Cezlak I near Oplotnica. Near-is composed of light minerals (quartz, ortho-by, the quarry of a slightly older and more clase, and particularly plagioclase) as well as prestigious cizlakite is also situated. Pohorje dark ones (biotite, hornblende), which gives it granodiorite, which was called also Pohor-a greyish outlook. In its name and in compo-je tonalite or Pohorje granite in the past, is sition it’s related to the better-known granite, cut for road bricks and pavers, as well as wall but its plagioclases contain more calcium. and floor panels. Due to its appearance and White aplite and pegmatite veins criss-cross durability, Pohorje granodiorite is the most through the granodiorite. In Slovenia, gran-commonly used natural stone for outdoor use odiorite is quarried in the foothil s of Pohorje in Slovenia. The old city center of Ljubljana is in one of the largest operating quarries in the also paved extensively with this natural stone. 25 GABBRO LIFT, ENTRANCE PORTAL Floor panel in front of the lift, base of the entrance portal. Gabbro is an igneous rock of the intrusive obtained in Africa and because it is black; or type, usual y dark grey to black (pyroxene and it goes by the name “black granite”, which is amphibole minerals), which can be greenish not correct due to the completely different (hornblende mineral) with white patches, mineral composition of granite. The gabbro which are plagioclase minerals. It crystallizes at the entrance to the lift certainly comes from deep below the Earth’s surface from magma, far away, perhaps as from Africa. But we know which is rich in magnesium and iron. In its that the gabbro from which the base of the composition, gabbro is very similar to cizlak-entrance portal of the building is made comes ite, but does not contain the mineral quartz. from Jablanica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, On the market, the name “Africa nero” is of-where the base of the Prešeren monument at ten used for gabbro, because it is commonly Tromostovje (three bridges) also comes from. 27 LIFT GRANITE Floor panels in lift. Granite is an intrusive igneous rock, formed geological y alien species in the Montanistika deep below the Earth’s surface. It is the most building. Granite is often used as a decorative common rock of the continental Earth crust. or natural stone. It’s used to make floor and The rock is light, white or pink coloured. It wall panels, shelfs, and monuments, through-crystallized from magma rich in silicon and out history it’s been used in the construction of oxygen. Quartz and minerals of alkali feldspars, towns, temples, obelisks and more. In nature, plagioclase and light mica give it a light colour. weathering of granite often results in forma-The granite in the lift is white in colour and tion of very interesting landscape, marked by most probably comes from Brazil. Together rounded boulders, piled in large heaps. with the adjoining gabbro, it could be called a 29 Title: Who let the stones out? Authors and project mentors Concept and text:: Boštjan Rožič, Petra Žvab Rožič and Matevž Novak Graphic design: Nace Pušnik Layout and prepress: Petra Lapajne Povirk, Maruša Seničar and Ines Oražem within the course Typeface Design, academic program Graphic and Interactive Communication, academic year 2018/2019 Copy editing: Jeff Bickert Electronic edition Ljubljana, January 2024 Kataložni zapis o publikaciji (CIP) pripravili v Narodni in univerzitetni knjižnici v Ljubljani COBISS.SI-ID 105228035 ISBN 978-961-95766-2-5 (PDF) This European Researchers’ Night project is funded by the European Commission under the Marie Skłodows-ka-Curie Actions. The project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 954337. This project has received funding from the European Commission. The action reflects only the author’s view. 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