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Tezoantla White Tuff

Mexico

Reloj Monumental (Clock Tower), built in 1910, the most renowned monument of Pachuca de Soto, the Hidalgo state capital. This Neoclassical monument was inaugurated in 1910 to commemorate the centennial of Mexico’s independence. It was largely built of Tezoantla Tuff (Comarca Minera UNESCO Global Geopark)

 

Local native name

Cantera de Tezoantla, Piedra de Pachuca

Year designation

2022

Lithology

Tuff; ash tuff, affected by low-temperature argillic hydrothermal alteration (zeolitization)

Aesthetics

Typically white, greenish and brownish tonalities, finely grained

Geological settings

Cenozoic – Miocene – Pachuca Group

Location

Tezoantla and Santa Rosalía villages, Mineral del Monte municipality, Hidalgo state

Reloj Monumental (Clock Tower), built in 1910, the most renowned monument of Pachuca de Soto, the Hidalgo state capital. This Neoclassical monument was inaugurated in 1910 to commemorate the centennial of Mexico’s independence. It was largely built of Tezoantla Tuff (Comarca Minera UNESCO Global Geopark)

 

Monuments and vernacular architecture in the mining heart of Mexico

The Tezoantla Tuff («Cantera de Tezoantla» in Spanish) has been quarried for at least 400 years in the municipality of Mineral del Monte of the Comarca Minera UNESCO Global Geopark (UGGp), in the state of Hidalgo. 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 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. The Heritage Stone designation of Tezoantla Tuff makes visible the link between geoheritage and the cultural heritage —including mining heritage— of Hidalgo and reinforces the global value of the geoheritage of the Comarca Minera UGGp.

At an elevation higher than 2900 m above sea level, the main quarry of Tezoanta, still active, is shown in an aerial image in a foggy winter morning (Comarca Minera UNESCO Global Geopark)

Hand specimen of Tezoantla tuff. The distinctive white colour of this volcanic rock —the feature for which it is so highly valued— is an effect of low-temperature hydrothermal alteration

  • Main publication

González-León, L.I., Canet, C., Lozada-Amador, E., Alvarado-Sizzo, I., Lagarda-García, F.O., Cruz-Pérez, M.A., García-Alonso, E., Mora-Chaparro, J.C., Urquijo Torres, P.S., Salgado-Martínez, E., (2023): Tezoantla Tuff («Cantera de Tezoantla», Hidalgo state): the first Mexican “Heritage Stone”. Episodes.

  • Author(s)

Carlos Canet

ccanet@igeofisica.unam.mx

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