Particular finds of scientific importance can transform the perception of quarries as sites of destruction to places of discovery. From fossils and archeological finds to structural features, such locations can help to provide a positive view of quarrying operations. By Fabio Coletta and Dr Michael Clark, Whitehopleman, UK.
Often cement raw material quarries present unique geological features connected to their geological, structural or/and historical context. These features sometimes are so particular that quarries become a preferential point of observation for those exceptional phenomena.
The rock exposure and the rock mass cut in a well-developed mountain or pit quarry can reveal details which, otherwise, could not be accessible except by limited and targeted boreholes. Therefore, these sites become of primary interest for researchers and visitors.
