The 1580-1570 Ma old Vehmaa rapakivi granite batholith was studied with the aim to define the geological constraints for localization of natural stone deposits in the batholith. The batholith comprises four roughly concentric granite intrusions from the margin inwards: pyterlite, coarse-grained porphyritic rapakivi granite and two types of mediumgrained porphyritic rapakivi granite. Also porphyry aplite and even-grained rapakivi granite occur. The batholith has intruded as a succession of pulses of subhorizontal sheet-like intrusions conceivably through repeated cauldron subsidence. Natural stone quarries are confined only to certain intrusions within the batholith. We show that the mediumgrained porphyritc granite body in the centre of the batholith comprises two almost identical but different intrusions, with only slightly different appearances: the inner (IG) and the outer (OG) granite. The quarries are confined to the outer intrusion which has an appearance more attractive to the market than that of the inner intrusion. The localization of the natural stone deposits in the Vehmaa batholith is a result of the magmatic history of the batholith, producing intrusions of different appearances with different commercial potential.
The paper summarises the results of a study by the Geological Survey of Finland on the potential use of waste rocks from natural stone quarry production. Petrographic, chemical, mechanical and physical tests were undertaken on granite, rapakivi granite, migmatite, syenite, diorite, gabbro, anorthosite gabbro, schist and soapstone from 33 dimension stone quarries in Finland. The results indicate the waste rocks of Finnish natural stone quarries can generally be considered environmentally sound with potential uses in other industries.
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