Tezoantla Tuff («Cantera de Tezoantla», Hidalgo state): the first Mexican “Heritage Stone”

Laura I. González-León; Carles Canet; Elizabeth Lozada-Amador; Ilia Alvarado-Sizzo; Francisco O. Lagarda-García; Miguel Á. Cruz-Pérez; Eduardo García-Alonso; Juan Carlos Mora-Chaparro; Pedro S. Urquijo Torres; Erika Salgado-Martínez

doi:10.18814/epiiugs/2023/023016

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Communication of IUGS Geological Standards

Episodes 2024; 47(1): 109-119

Published online March 1, 2024

https://doi.org/10.18814/epiiugs/2023/023016

Tezoantla Tuff («Cantera de Tezoantla», Hidalgo state): the first Mexican “Heritage Stone”

Laura I. González-León¹, Carles Canet^2,3*, Elizabeth Lozada-Amador⁴, Ilia Alvarado-Sizzo⁵, Francisco O. Lagarda-García⁴, Miguel Á. Cruz-Pérez^3,6, Eduardo García-Alonso⁶, Juan Carlos Mora-Chaparro³, Pedro S. Urquijo Torres⁷, Erika Salgado-Martínez³

¹Instituto de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo km. 4.5, Mineral de la Reforma, Mexico
²Escuela Nacional de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico
³Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico Coyoacán, 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico
⁴Instituto de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo km. 4.5, Mineral de la Reforma, Mexico
⁵Instituto de Geografía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Coyoacán, 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico
⁶Universidad La Salle Pachuca, Belisario Domínguez 202, Centro 42000, Pachuca de Soto, Hidalgo, Mexico
⁷Centro de Investigaciones en Geografía Ambiental, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro No. 8701,Col. Ex-Hacienda de San José de la Huerta, Michoacán, Mexico

Correspondence to:^*E-mail: ccanet@igeofisica.unam.mx

Received: May 6, 2023; Revised: May 22, 2023; Accepted: May 22, 2023

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The Tezoantla Tuff («Cantera de Tezoantla» in Spanish) was designated as a ‘Heritage Stone’ by the International Union of Geological Sciences on October 22, 2022, under revised criteria that were approved the same year, being the first in Mexico and the second to be awarded a volcanic tuff. It is a volcanic ash tuff of Miocene age, with low-temperature argillic hydrothermal alteration (zeolitization), that has been quarried for at least 400 years in the municipality of Mineral del Monte of the Comarca Minera UNESCO Global Geopark. Due to its aesthetic value (in particular, the white variety) and suitable physical properties, this stone has been used as building and sculpture material in notable monuments of Baroque, eclectic and Neoclassical styles of the state of Hidalgo and the historic center of Mexico City, most of which are cataloged in different lists of cultural heritage. In addition, it has been widely used in vernacular architecture and in industrial constructions that are part of the outstanding mining heritage of the geopark, with Cornish engine houses (19th century) standing out.