thumb|249x249px|Small block of Esterellite taken on a beach between Saint-Raphaël and Le Dramont
'''Esterellite''' (or Estérellite) is a porphyritic variety of quartz-bearing microdiorite, containing phenocrysts of quartz, zoned andesine, and hornblende only found in the southern part of the Esterel massif, between Agay and Saint-Raphael, France.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Holmes |first=Arthur |url=http://archive.org/details/nomenclatureofpe00holmrich |title=The nomenclature of petrology, with references to selected literature |date=1920 |publisher=London, Thomas Murby & co |others=University of California Libraries |pages=94 |language=en}}</ref> It is a bluish-grey rock, sometimes greenish, dotted with white plagioclase feldspar and amphibiole crystals, forming a thick laccolithic complex near Le Drammont.
This volcanic rock, also known as the blue porphyry of Estérel, was named by the French geologist Auguste Michel-Levy in 1896.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Michel-Lévy |first=Auguste |date=1896 |title=Sur quelques particularités de gisement du porphyre bleu de l'Esterel |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/100438 |journal=Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France |series=3 |location=Paris |publisher=Société géologique de France. |volume=24 |pages=123–139 |access-date=2024-07-31 |archive-date=2024-07-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240731082936/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/100438 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Michel-Lévy |first=Auguste |url=https://data.bnf.fr/temp-work/a3dd797e7e7baf2196cc073953e8ce9a/ |title=Mémoire sur le porphyre bleu de l'Estérel |date=1897 |language=fr |access-date=2024-07-31 |archive-date=2024-07-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240731082936/https://data.bnf.fr/temp-work/a3dd797e7e7baf2196cc073953e8ce9a/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Romans used it as paving materials but also for decorative purposes. Today, it is mainly used to make riprap, such as blocks for the dikes of the ports of Saint-Raphaël and Fréjus, railway ballast and road gravel.
== Structure and composition ==
Esterellite is a porphyritic rock, completely crystalline, containing large phenocrysts (plagioclases, quartz, ferromagnesians), which are very visible to the naked eye, and a matrix of very small microcrystals.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=Géologie de l'Estérel |url=http://www.esterel-pour-tous.fr/geologie-de-l-esterel/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240803172420/https://www.esterel-pour-tous.fr/geologie-de-l-esterel/ |archive-date=2024-08-03 |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=Estérel pour tous |language=fr-FR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bates |first1=Robert Latimer |url=https://archive.org/details/glossaryofgeolog0000bate_p7o6/page/222/mode/2up |title=Glossary of geology |last2=Jackson |first2=Julia A. |date=1987 |publisher=American Geological Institute |isbn=978-0-913312-89-6 |edition=3rd |location=Alexandria, Va |pages=223}}</ref> The overall composition of this rock places it among the slightly alkaline andesites and dacites of the subalkaline igneous magma series, typical of subduction zones.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last1=Mari |first1=Gilbert |last2=Grauby |first2=Olivier |last3=Sic |first3=Jérôme |date=2015 |title=Nouvelle contribution à l'étude des grenats de l'Estérel (Var, France) |url=https://asnatnic.fr/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Riviera_2015_Grenats-Esterel.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Riviera Scientifique |language=fr |volume=99 |pages=31–48 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806130749/https://asnatnic.fr/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Riviera_2015_Grenats-Esterel.pdf |archive-date=2024-08-06 |access-date=2024-08-06}}</ref>
The most visible crystals are numerous andesine-type plagioclases, often zoned (because they are more calcic in the centre), but also biotite and hornblende crystals. More rarely, a few macrocrystals of quartz (often patchy) or potassium feldspar can be found, but sometimes also augite.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bordet |first=P |url= |title=L'Esterel et Le Massif de Tanneron |date=1966 |publisher=Hermann |language=fr |oclc=844357920}}</ref>
== Origin and formation ==
[[File:Île d'Or - géologie.svg|alt= Simplified Geological Map of the Estérel Coastal Area, from Saint-Raphael to île d'Or.|thumb|upright=1.3|Simplified Geological Map of the Estérel Coastal Area, from Saint-Raphael to île d'Or. {{small|{{legend|#c75b3e|'''p''' rhyolite}}{{legend|#decd87|'''r''Mi''''' (Mitaux) Sedimentary Permian}}{{legend|#de8787|'''r''Px''''' (Pradineaux Formation) Sedimentary Permian}}{{legend|#6f7caa|'''3aM''' (flow of mugearite)}}{{legend|#008000|'''3F''' (Sill of diabase)}}{{legend|#93a7ac|'''E''' ('''esterellite''')}}{{legend|#939dac|'''K''' (hornfels)}}{{legend|#f4e3d7|'''E2-3''' (blocks and pebbles)}}{{legend|#dedbe3|'''Fx-z''' (alluvium)}}{{legend|#ddafe9|'''Z''' (artificial excavation of esterellite)}}}}{{legend-line|yellow solid 1px|(fault)}}]]
[[File:Le cap du Dramont, Méditerranée (23725852412).jpg|thumb|Vue of the Cap Dramont with the characteristic reddish colour of rhyolite]]
The Esterellite outcrops in the southern part of the Estérel massif, between Agay and Saint-Raphaël, in the form of a small sub-elliptical massif, about 6 km long and 3 km wide, oriented NW-SE, cutting through Permian volcanic-sedimentary formations. It forms the Dramont laccolith, which is interbedded with Permian sandstones.<ref name=":8" />
While the bedrock of the Esterel dates back to the formation of the Hercynian chain (pre-Carboniferous), almost all the volcanic outcrops appeared 250 million years ago at the end of the Palaeozoic era (Permian). During this period, 30 million years of intense volcanic activity led to the formation of basalts and then red rhyolites (Maure-Vieil caldera: {{Coord|43|30|36|N|6|54|0|E|type:mountain_scale:1000_region:FR}}). In the Oligocene, a new magma eruption deposited the esterellite laccoliths of Cap Dramont. In the Miocene (23 to 5 million years ago), a tectonic movement separated Corsica and Sardinia from present-day Provence. The same porphyries are found in the Esterel as in the Calanques de Piana in Corsica. Since then, the massif has undergone considerable erosion. It is mainly composed of porphyritic rocks, especially rhyolite, which gives it its characteristic reddish colour with occasional veins of blue esterellite.<ref name=":9" />
The Estérel massif has undergone two types of magmatisms:<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nicod |first=Jean |date=1973 |title=Du nouveau sur le volcanisme et le permien de l'Estérel |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/medit_0025-8296_1973_num_14_3_1502 |journal=Méditerranée |language=fr |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=83–86 |doi=10.3406/medit.1973.1502 |access-date=2024-07-30 |archive-date=2024-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730200542/https://www.persee.fr/doc/medit_0025-8296_1973_num_14_3_1502 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Crevola |first=Gilbert |date=2010 |title=Le volcanisme rhyolitique du massif de l'Esterel : évolution des connaissances |url=https://www.crevola.org/gilbert/pdf/VOLCANISME_RHYOLITIQUE_ESTEREL_Riviera_Scientique_2010.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Riviera Scientifique |language=fr |volume=94 |pages=33–52 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525164025/https://www.crevola.org/gilbert/pdf/VOLCANISME_RHYOLITIQUE_ESTEREL_Riviera_Scientique_2010.pdf |archive-date=2024-05-25 |access-date=2024-08-02}}</ref>
* Permian calc-alkaline volcanism, characterized by ignimbritic rhyolites with large extensions, flow banded rhyolite and punctual rhyolites; * Permian alkaline volcanism, characterized by dolerite-textured basalts and microlitic-textured trachyandesites, characteristic of the Massif des Maures and the Toulon region and the later intrusion of Esterellite in the Cap Dramont area.
The esterellite was formed from magma that was not very hot and under low pressure.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Dardeau |first1=G. |url=http://ficheinfoterre.brgm.fr/Notices/0999N.pdf |title=Notice explicative de la feuille Grasse-Cannes à 1/50 000 |last2=Dubar |first2=M. |last3=Toutin-Morin |first3=N. |last4=Courme |first4=M.-D. |last5=Crévola |first5=G. |last6=Mangan |first6=C. |publisher=Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières |isbn=978-2-7159-1999-0 |edition=2 |language=fr |access-date=2024-07-31 |archive-date=2024-05-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513162822/http://ficheinfoterre.brgm.fr/Notices/0999N.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Toutin-Morin |first1=Nadège |title=Notice explicative de la feuille Fréjus – Cannes à 1/50 000 |date=1994 |access-date= |others=Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières |edition=2 |place=Orléans |publisher=BRGM |language=fr |isbn=978-2-7159-2024-8 |last2=Crévola |first2=Gilbert |last3=Giraud |first3=Jean-Dominique}}</ref> The magma was therefore unable to reach the surface and formed a flattened magma chamber underground (laccolith), due to the strata between which the magma was forced to move and cooled down slowly. Over time, erosion of the overlying layers exposed these cooled magmatic rocks.<ref>Boucarut Marc (1971) – Étude volcanologique et géologique de l’Estérel (Var, France). Thèse Doct. d’État, Univ. Nice, 2 t., 487 p</ref><ref>Baubron, J.C. (1984), Volcanisme du Sud-Est de la France. In ''Synthèse géologique du Sud-Est de la France'', Mém. BRGM, n° 125, p. 514-517.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lassalle |first=Laurence |date=2022 |title=Le volcanisme permo-triasique du massif de l'Estérel (Var et Alpes-Maritimes, France). Mise en place des rhyolites et autres roches d'origine volcanique et sédimentaire en contexte distensif post-orogénique varisque |url=https://www.academia.edu/87921173 |journal=Saga Information |language=fr |volume=390 |pages=16–31 |access-date=2024-07-31 |archive-date=2024-07-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240731090143/https://www.academia.edu/87921173 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lassalle |first=Laurence |date=2022 |title=Les rhyolites permo-triasiques et autres roches du massif de l'Estérel (Var et Alpes-Maritimes, France). Une source d'approvisionnement en matière première d'origine volcanique au Paléolithique ancien et moyen. |url=https://asnatnic.fr/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Riviera-2022-Les-rhyolites-permo-triasiques-et-autres-roches-du-massif-de-lEsterel-.pdf |journal=Riviera Scientifique |language=fr |volume=106 |pages=3–32 |access-date=2024-07-31 |archive-date=2024-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806075952/https://asnatnic.fr/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Riviera-2022-Les-rhyolites-permo-triasiques-et-autres-roches-du-massif-de-lEsterel-.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
Named "porphyre bleu de l'Estérel" by Horace Bénédict de Saussure in 1796, the esterellite owes its present name to Auguste Michel-Lévy, who in 1897 devoted to it the most complete petrographic study of the 19th century.<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=de Saussure |first=Horace Bénédicte |url=http://www.e-rara.ch/zut/3642537 |title=Voyages dans les Alpes, précédés d'un essai sur l'histoire naturelle des environs de Genève |date=1796 |language=en |chapter=Chapitre XX. Montagnes de la Sainte Beaume & du Cap Roux. |publisher=Fauche-Bore |doi=10.3931/e-rara-11885 |chapter-url=https://www.e-rara.ch/download/pdf/3808661.pdf |access-date=2024-08-06 |archive-date=2024-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806130753/https://www.e-rara.ch/zut/3642537 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the following decades, numerous authors studied the origin and characteristics of the esterellite, while the age of its formation gave rise to numerous controversies. Michel-Lévy (1912)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Michel-Lévy |first=Albert |date=1912 |title=L'Estérel. Etude stratigraphique, pétrographique et tectonique |journal=Bulletin du Service de la carte géologique de la France |volume=21 |pages=265–321}}</ref> and Roche (1957)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Roche |first=Alexandre |date=1957 |title=Sur l'aimantation des roches volcaniques de l'Estérel |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k7215/f1121.item |url-status=live |journal=Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences |language=fr |volume=244 |pages=2952–2954 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130073658/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k7215 |archive-date=2023-11-30 |access-date=2024-08-06|via=Gallica}}</ref> favored a Tertiary age, while Bordet (1951)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bordet |first=P. |url=https://pascal-francis.inist.fr/vibad/index.php?action=getRecordDetail&lang=en&idt=GEODEBRGMFR0717021 |title=Etude géologique et pétrographique de l'estérel |date=1951 |publisher=Ministère des Travaux Publics |series=Mémoires pour servir à l'explication de la carte géologique détaillée de la France |pages=1–207 |access-date=2024-08-06 |archive-date=2024-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806075954/https://pascal-francis.inist.fr/vibad/index.php?action=getRecordDetail&lang=en&idt=GEODEBRGMFR0717021 |url-status=live }}</ref> suggested a Permian age. It wasn't until the 1970s that the Tertiary age was finally accepted.<ref>{{Citation |last=Moullade |first=Michel |title=The Ligurian Sea and the Adjacent Areas |date=1978 |work=The Ocean Basins and Margins |pages=67–148 |editor-last=Nairn |editor-first=Alan E. M. |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-3039-4_2 |place=Boston, MA |publisher=Springer |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-4684-3039-4_2 |isbn=978-1-4684-3039-4 |editor2-last=Kanes |editor2-first=William H. |editor3-last=Stehli |editor3-first=Francis G. |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-08-08 |archive-date=2024-08-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808152727/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4684-3039-4_2 |url-status=live }}</ref> between 61 and 53 Ma for Roubault (1970),<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Roubault |first1=Marcel |last2=Bordet |first2=Pierre |last3=Leutwein |first3=Friedrich |last4=Sonet |first4=Jacques |last5=Zimermann |first5=Jean-Louis |date=1970 |title=Age absolu des formations volcaniques du Tanneron Estérel (Var) |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k63528903/f461.image |journal=Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences |volume=271 |pages=1157–1160|via=Gallica}}</ref> Oligocene for Baubron (1974)<ref>Baubron, J. C. (1974), Etude de l'évolution magmatique des formations calco-alcalines tertiaires de Provence et Haute-Provence par la géochimie du rubidium et du strontium, Rapport B.R.G.M., v. 74 SGN 003 LAB (in French).</ref> and between 55 and 30 Ma for Giraud (1983).<ref name=":7">Giraud J.D. (1983), ''L’arc andésitique paléogène des Alpes occidentales: pétrologie, volcanologie, signification géodynamique'', Thèse de Doctorat d’État, Université de Nice, 378 p.</ref> The French BRGM gives between 26.3 and 34.2 Ma citing Baubron (1974) and between 33 and 56 Ma, determined with the K/Ar dating, citing Bellon (1977)<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bellon |first1=Hervé |last2=Brousse |first2=Robert |date=1977 |title=Le magmatisme périméditerranéen occidental – essai de synthese |journal=Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France |series=7 |language=fr |volume=XIX |issue=3 |pages=469–480|doi=10.2113/gssgfbull.S7-XIX.3.469 |bibcode=1977BSGF...S7..469B }}</ref> and Giraud (1983).<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7" /> Using <sup>40</sup>Ar/<sup>39</sup>Ar dating, Féraud (1995) estimated the age of samples of esterellites from Le Dramont at 32.7 ± 0.9 Ma and concluded that they were produced during a brief and unique event affecting the outer and inner Alpine domains between the Mediterranean and the Saint Raphael area.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Féraud |first1=G. |title=Magmatismes dans le sud-est de la France |last2=Ruffet |first2=G. |last3=Stéphan |first3=J.F. |last4=Lapierre |first4=H. |last5=Delgado |first5=E. |last6=Popoff |first6=M. |date=1995 |publisher=Société géologique de France et de l'Association des Géologues du Sud Est |location=Nice |pages=38 |chapter=Nouvelles données géochronologiques sur le volcanisme paléogène des Alpes occidentales: existence d'un événement magmatique bref généralisé. |chapter-url=https://agse-geologues.fr/documents/MagmatismesSE_resumes.pdf |language=fr |access-date=2024-07-31 |archive-date=2024-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216200701/http://agse-geologues.fr/documents/MagmatismesSE_resumes.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> This dating was confirmed by Ivaldi (2003) at 31.9 ± 0.7 Ma<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ivaldi |first1=Jean-Pierre |last2=Bellon |first2=Hervé |last3=Guardia |first3=Pierre |last4=Mangan |first4=Christian |last5=Müller |first5=Carla |last6=Perez |first6=Jean-Louis |last7=Terramorsi |first7=Serge |date=2003 |title=Contexte lithostructural, âges 40K-40Ar et géochimie du volcanisme calco-alcalin tertiaire de Cap-d'Ail dans le tunnel ferroviaire de Monaco |url=https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/geoscience/item/10.1016/S1631-0713(03)00061-0.pdf |journal= Comptes Rendus. Géoscience|language=fr |volume=335 |issue=4 |pages=411–421 |doi=10.1016/S1631-0713(03)00061-0 |issn=1778-7025 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and by Réhault (2012) at 33-31 Ma.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Réhault |first1=J.-P. |last2=Honthaas |first2=C. |last3=Guennoc |first3=P. |last4=Bellon |first4=H. |last5=Ruffet |first5=G. |last6=Cotten |first6=J. |last7=Sosson |first7=M. |last8=Maury |first8=R.C. |date=July 2012 |title=Offshore Oligo-Miocene volcanic fields within the Corsica-Liguria Basin: Magmatic diversity and slab evolution in the western Mediterranean Sea |url=https://insu.hal.science/insu-00693261/document |journal=Journal of Geodynamics |language=en |volume=58 |pages=73–95 |doi=10.1016/j.jog.2012.02.003|bibcode=2012JGeo...58...73R }}</ref>
The quartz-bearing microdiorite of Alghero (Cala Bona {{Coord|40|32|41.91|N|8|19|16.11|E|scale:1000_region:IT}}) shows close petrographic and chemical analogies to the esterellites of the Estérel Massif.<ref>Giraud, J. P. (1975), Une Intrusion Calco-Alcaline Type: L'Esterellite – Position dans Ie Contexte Volcanologique Tertiaire Regional, Thesis (3rd Cycle), University of Nice (in French).</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Orsini |first1=J.B. |last2=Coulon |first2=C. |last3=Cocozza |first3=T. |date=1980 |title=Excursion 38 : la dérive cénozoïque de la Corse et de la Sardaigne |url=http://geologie-alpine.ujf-grenoble.fr/articles/GA_1980__56__169_0.pdf |journal=Géologie Alpine |language=fr |volume=56 |pages=169–202 |access-date= |archive-date=2024-08-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808152540/http://geologie-alpine.ujf-grenoble.fr/articles/GA_1980__56__169_0.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The rock is very similar to the porphyry of Montagne Pelée in Martinique.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lacroix |first=A. |url=http://archive.org/details/martinique |title=La montagne pelée après ses éruptions |date=1908 |location=Paris |pages=70 |language=fr}}</ref>
== Uses ==
thumb|Watercolor by Antoine Meunier depicting the Lanterne d'Auguste, the windbreak wall and the esterelitte "pillar post" in the Roman port of Fréjus (1793)<ref name=":10" />
Esterellite deposits were clearly visible along the coast between Boulouris and Agay and were easily accessible by sea. The Romans appreciated the solidity of esterellite.<ref>Brentchaloff, D.; Mazeran, R. (1999), Exploitation antique de l’esterellite: mise au point pétro-archéologique'','' ''Mémoires de l’Institut de Préhistoire et d’Archéologie Alpes Méditerranée'', '''XLI''':17-26.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mazeran |first=R. |title=Les roches décoratives dans l'architecture antique et du haut Moyen âge |date=2004 |publisher=Ministère de l'éducation nationale, de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche |isbn=978-2-7355-0511-1 |editor-last=Chardron-Picault |editor-first=P. |editor-first2= J. |editor-last2=Lorenz |editor-first3=P. |editor-last3=Rat |editor-first4=G. |editor-last4=Sauron |series=Archéologie et histoire de l'art |location=Paris |pages=129–136 |language=fr |chapter=L’exploitation du porphyre bleu de l’Estérel à l’époque romaine |issue=16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Amicale des Raphaelois |title=Carrière Gallo-Romaine de Boulouris |url=https://www.raphaelois.fr/carriere-gallo-romaine-de-boulouris/ |access-date=2024-08-02 |archive-date=2024-08-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240802075019/https://www.raphaelois.fr/carriere-gallo-romaine-de-boulouris/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It was mainly used locally as building material due to the lack of limestone in the region, notably in the amphitheater of Fréjus and the aqueduct from Mons to Fréjus and as riprap in the antique port of Fréjus.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Russell |first=Ben |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/867827680 |title=The economics of the Roman stone trade |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-965639-4 |edition= |series=Oxford studies on the Roman economy |location= |pages=77 |oclc=867827680 |access-date=2024-08-01 |archive-date=2024-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806080057/https://search.worldcat.org/title/867827680 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":10" /> It was also used in the form of cobblestones or gravel, as it was resistant to the hooped wheels of the chariots of the time and exported throughout France and Europe to build roads. The Romans also used it to decorate monuments in the south of France (Orange and Arles).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Bellair |first=Pierre |url=http://archive.org/details/elementsdegeolog0000bell |title=Eléments de géologie |date=1982 |publisher=Paris : A. Colin |isbn=978-2-200-21001-4 |pages=192 |language=fr}}</ref>
Later, this porphyry was in demand in Rome as an exotic import since the early 3rd century A.D. under the Severan dynasty, mainly for use in columns.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Porfido bigio |url=https://www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/attivita/museo/collezioni-litomineralogiche/lito-reperti/porfido-bigio |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=ISPRA Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale |language=it |archive-date=2024-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806163412/https://www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/attivita/museo/collezioni-litomineralogiche/lito-reperti/porfido-bigio |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Fant |first1=J. Clayton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GDsTEQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Porfido+bigio%22&pg=PA15 |title=Roman Decorative Stone Collections in the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology |last2=Long |first2=Leah E. |last3=McAlpine |first3=Lynley J. |date=2024-08-19 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-13195-2 |language=en |access-date=2024-08-04 |archive-date=2024-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806080053/https://books.google.com/books?id=GDsTEQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Porfido+bigio%22&pg=PA15#v=onepage&q=%22Porfido%20bigio%22&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Pensabene |first=Patrizio |url= |title=I I marmi colorati della Roma imperiale |date=2002 |publisher=Marsilio |isbn=978-88-317-8117-6 |editor-last=De Nuccio |editor-first=Matilda |pages=3–67 |language=it |chapter=Il fenomeno del marmo nel mondo romano |editor-last2=Ungaro |editor-first2=Lucrezia}}</ref> The Roman quarries of Boulouris<ref>Several quarries were exploited by the Romans in the Boulouris area. Some remains are still visible nowadays: {{Coord|43|25|26.41|N|6|49|8.38|E|type:landmark_scale:1000_region:FR}} and {{Coord|43|25|30.03|N|6|49|52.34|E|type:landmark_scale:1000_region:FR}}.</ref> exported stones also known as ''Porfido bigio'',<ref>Fine-grained sub-varieties of esterellite is also known as ''Porfido bigio verde'', ''Granito pedicolare'' or ''Granito pidocchioso''.</ref> ''Granito a morviglione''<ref>Ancient Romanesco word for smallpox or the marks left by smallpox (Pullen 2018).</ref> or ''Porfido bigio di Sibilio''.<ref>Named after ''Francesco Sibilio'' (1784–1859), a master marble craftsman and antiquities dealer in Rome.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Granito bigio, granito a morviglione, porfido bigio di Sibilio, from the area between Frejus and Dramont, Esterel Mountains, Var, France |url=https://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/corsi/stones/view/817 |access-date=2024-07-31 |website=Corsi Collection of Decorative Stones – Stones – Natural History Museum Oxford |archive-date=2019-10-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191017143039/http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/corsi/stones/view/817 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Conte |first1=R. |last2=D'Elia |first2=Angela |last3=Delluniversità |first3=Emanuela |last4=Fioretti |first4=Giovanna |last5=Florio |first5=E. |last6=Navarra |first6=Maria |date=2015 |title=Stones and ancient marbles of the 'Francesco Belli' collection: archaeological, art-historical, antiquarian, geological-technical and petrographical aspects |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282604388 |journal=Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference of ASMOSIA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lazzarini |first1=L. |title=Pietre e marmi antichi: natura, caratterizzazione, origine, storia d'uso, diffusione, collezionismo |last2=Sangati |first2=C. |date=2004 |publisher=CEDAM |isbn=978-88-13-25021-8 |editor-last=Lazzarini |editor-first=Lorenzo |location=Padova |language=it |chapter=I più importanti marmi e pietre colorati usati dagli antichi}}</ref> Charles Texier found three quarries in the Petits Caous sector, many traces of which were still preserved in 1849, before modern quarrying began in 1864.<ref name=":10">{{Citation |last=Excoffon |first=Pierre |title=Découvertes récentes à l'extrémité de la jetée méridionale du port romain de Forum Iulii (Fréjus, Var) |date=2021 |work=Les ports dans l’espace méditerranéen antique : Fréjus et les ports maritimes |pages=113–136 |editor-last=Carre |editor-first=Marie-Brigitte |url=https://books.openedition.org/pup/64917 |access-date=2024-08-03 |series=Archéologies méditerranéennes |place=Aix-en-Provence |publisher=Presses universitaires de Provence |language=fr |isbn=979-1-03-200484-5 |archive-date=2024-08-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240803051518/https://books.openedition.org/pup/64917 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Texier |first=Charles |date=1849 |title=Troisième mémoire. Sur les anciennes carrières de Fréjus, et sur les matériaux employés par les Romains |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/mesav_1267-9003_1849_num_2_1_1137 |journal=Mémoires présentés par divers savants à l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres de l'Institut de France. Deuxième série, Antiquités de la France |series=Mémoires sur la ville et le port de Fréjus |language=fr |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=240–272 |doi=10.3406/mesav.1849.1137 |issn=1267-9003 |access-date=2024-08-03 |archive-date=2024-08-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240803051518/https://www.persee.fr/doc/mesav_1267-9003_1849_num_2_1_1137 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The Baths of Caracalla in Rome and the Bath of the Six Columns in Ostia are known to have used it.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lanciani |first=Rodolfo Amedeo |url=https://archive.org/details/storiadegliscavi04lanciala/storiadegliscavi04lanciala/page/58/mode/2up |title=Storia degli scavi di Roma e notizie intorno le collezioni romane di antichità |date=1913 |publisher=Roma, E. Loeschler & Co. |volume=4 |pages=58}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Marmi antichi II: cave e tecnica di lavorazione, provenienze e distribuzione |date=1998 |publisher=L'Erma di Bretschneider |isbn=978-88-7062-998-9 |editor-last=Pensabene |editor-first=Patrizio |series=Studi miscellanei |location=Roma |pages=340 |language= }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Gébara |first1=Chérine |last2=Morhange |first2=Christophe |date=2010 |title=Fréjus (Forum Julii): le Port Antique / the Ancient Harbour |url=https://journalofromanarchaeology.com/supplement-77/ |journal=Journal of Roman Archaeology |issue=Supplement 77 |pages=102–107 |quote=The mooring-columns of esterellite |access-date=2024-07-31 |archive-date=2024-07-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240731105823/https://journalofromanarchaeology.com/supplement-77/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Bedon, R. (1984), Les Carrières et les carriers de la Gaule Romaine. Paris.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Pensabene |first1=Patrizio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wLI0DaOOxVoC&dq=%22porfido+bigio%22&pg=PA222 |title=Ostiensium marmorum decus et decor: studi architettonici, decorativi e archeometrici |last2=Lazzarini |first2=Lorenzo |date=2007 |publisher=L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER |isbn=978-88-8265-345-3 |pages=222 |language=it |access-date=2024-08-08 }}</ref> In the Saint Peter's Basilica, the altar of the chapel of Pope St Gregory the Great is flanked by two remarkably large columns of esterellite coming from Boulouris quarries as well as the altar of Clementine chapel.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pullen |first=Henry William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6vBjDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Porfido+bigio%22&pg=PA64 |title=Handbook of ancient Roman marbles: by Henry William Pullen |date=2018 |publisher=Gangemi Editore |isbn=978-88-492-4248-5 |pages=64 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gnoli |first=Raniero |url= |title=Marmora romana |date=1988 |publisher=Edizioni dell'Elefante |isbn=978-88-7176-033-9 |pages=140–141 |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Tani |first=Ariside D. |url=http://archive.org/details/lechiesediromagu00tani |title=Le chiese di Roma : guida storico-artistica : chiese stazionali |date=1922 |publisher=Torino : Edizioni d'arte E. Celanza |others=Harold B. Lee Library |pages=302, 306}}</ref> A column of esterellite is also visible in the octagonal courtyard in the Vatican museums.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Musei Vaticani Catalogo Online – Inventario |title=Fusto di colonna liscia con capitello moderno [MV.989.0.0] |url=https://catalogo.museivaticani.va/index.php/Detail/objects/MV.989.0.0 |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=catalogo.museivaticani.va |archive-date=2024-08-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240803060243/https://catalogo.museivaticani.va/index.php/Detail/objects/MV.989.0.0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":3" />
In the centuries that followed, it was used sparingly for decorative purposes in its production area of Fréjus, Vénasque, Cannes and Antibes, where it can be found in the form of columns and colonnettes, as well as pavements and wall coverings.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rochette |first1=P. |last2=Ambrosi |first2=J. P. |last3=Amraoui |first3=T. |last4=Andrieu |first4=V. |last5=Badie |first5=A. |last6=Borgard |first6=Ph. |last7=Gattacceca |first7=J. |last8=Hartmann-Virnich |first8=A. |last9=Panneau |first9=M. |last10=Planchon |first10=J. |date=2022-04-01 |title=Systematic sourcing of granite shafts from Gallia Narbonensis and comparison with other western Mediterranean areas |url=https://amu.hal.science/hal-03585735/file/Rochette%20et%20al%20Journal%20of%20Archaeological%20Science%202022.pdf |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports |volume=42 |article-number=103372 |bibcode=2022JArSR..42j3372R |doi=10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103372 |issn=2352-409X |quote= |access-date=2024-08-08 |archive-date=2024-08-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808152541/https://amu.hal.science/hal-03585735/file/Rochette%20et%20al%20Journal%20of%20Archaeological%20Science%202022.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> There are also limited examples of reuse of antique columns in the Romanesque chapel of Saint-Nicolas in Die and in the colonnade of the cloister of the fortified Lérins Abbey on the Saint-Honorat island in the bay of Cannes.<ref>Brentchaloff, Daniel; Mazeran, René (1999), Exploitation antique de l’estérellite: mise au point pétro-archéologique, ''Mémoires de l’Institut de préhistoire et d’archéologie Alpes Méditerranée'', '''XLI:'''17-26.</ref>
thumb|Pier of the "Carrière de porphyre de Saint-Raphaël" company at Cap Dramont (1870)
Since the 19th century, esterellite has been actively exploited for the manufacture of rubble stones (curbstones, paving stones,...).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bech|first=M|url=https://pascal-francis.inist.fr/vibad/index.php?action=getRecordDetail&lang=en&idt=GEODEBRGMFR0740937|title=Les paves de Toulon, ce qu'ils sont, d'ou ils viennent|date=1957|journal=Annales de la Société d'histoire naturelle de Toulon|pages=106–109|issue=9|access-date=2024-07-31|archive-date=2024-07-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240731103454/https://pascal-francis.inist.fr/vibad/index.php?action=getRecordDetail&lang=en&idt=GEODEBRGMFR0740937|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Bureau 3C |title=Sous les pavés, la plage ….ou l'histoire des carrières du Dramont ( épisode 2 ) |url=http://www.capesterel3c.com/2016/05/sous-les-paves-la-plage-ou-l-histoire-des-carrieres-du-dramont-episode-2.html |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=Le Blog du 3C – Collectif des Copropriétaires de Cap Esterel |language=fr |archive-date=2024-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806130757/http://www.capesterel3c.com/2016/05/sous-les-paves-la-plage-ou-l-histoire-des-carrieres-du-dramont-episode-2.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Les carrières du Dramont avant la construction de l'ile d'Or |url=https://capesterelascape.fr/culture-et-loisirs/avant-la-construction-de-lile-dor/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240731044710/https://capesterelascape.fr/culture-et-loisirs/avant-la-construction-de-lile-dor/ |archive-date=2024-07-31 |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=Cap Estérel |language=fr-FR}}</ref> Its high compressive strengths, larger than {{Convert|1000|kg/cm2|abbr=on}}, makes it suitable for a wide range of uses.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rivet |first=F. |url=https://www.paca.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/rp-67226-fr_rivet_repris_mars2018.pdf |title=Schéma Régional des Carrières Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur – Inventaire des ressources primaires |date=2017 |pages=49 |language=fr |issue=BRGM/RP–67226–FR |access-date=2024-07-31 |archive-date=2022-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303165900/http://www.paca.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/rp-67226-fr_rivet_repris_mars2018.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Its accelerated polishing coefficient makes it particularly suitable for motorway wearing courses.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title="PROLA", la carrière de porphyre oubliée |url=https://capesterelascape.fr/culture-et-loisirs/prola-la-carriere-de-porphyre-oubliee/ |access-date=2024-07-30 |website=CAP ESTEREL ASCAPE |language=fr-FR |archive-date=2024-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730200543/https://capesterelascape.fr/culture-et-loisirs/prola-la-carriere-de-porphyre-oubliee/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Les carrières du Dramont avant la construction de l'ile d'Or |url=https://capesterelascape.fr/culture-et-loisirs/avant-la-construction-de-lile-dor/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240731044709/https://capesterelascape.fr/culture-et-loisirs/avant-la-construction-de-lile-dor/ |archive-date=2024-07-31 |access-date=2024-07-30 |website=CAP ESTEREL ASCAPE |language=fr-FR}}</ref> It has also been used sparingly for ornamental purposes, notably in 1877 in the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière in Lyon for the side doors of the Porte des Lions and for the octagonal columns of the organ loft in the choir of the basilica.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tritenne |first=Dominique |url=https://www.ressources-caue.fr/GED_K/113017993129/marbres_franche_comte_r.pdf |title=Marbres en Franche-Comté : actes des journées d'études, Besançon, 10-12 juin 1999 |date=1999 |editor-last=Poupard |editor-first=Laurent |pages=111–122 |language=fr |chapter=Le porphyre de Plancher-les-Mines (Haute-Saône) à Notre-Dame de Fourvière (Lyon) |editor-last2=Richard |editor-first2=Annick}}</ref>
The resumption of the quarrying of esterellite at Le Dramont was made possible by the construction of the Marseille-Nice railway line by the Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) next to the quarries. The section between Toulon and Les Arc was officially opened by the PLM on 1 September 1862 and the railway line reached Cagnes-sur-Mer on 10 April 1863. In 1864, the first quarrying concessions were granted by the prefect. In 1883, the company "Carrières de Porphyre de Saint-Raphaël" was founded when the Belgian entrepreneur Jules Dujaquier bought 45 hectares of land on the Dramont seafront ({{Coord|43|25|7.77|N|6|50|38.73|E|type:landmark_scale:1000}}) next to the railway line.<ref name=":4" /> In 1888, the company "Carrière de Prola" began extracting esterellite in a quarry overlooking the Bay of Agay ({{Coord|43|25|29.01|N|6|51|14.32|E|type:landmark_scale:1000}}). The "quarrymen's village", the future district of Le Dramont, housed the workers, most of whom were Italian.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Violino |first=Jean-Pierre |date=2023 |title=La vie au village du Dramont, quartier populaire de Saint Raphaël. Les carriers fin 19e et première moitié du 20e siècle |url=https://www.academia.edu/109833529 |journal=Bulletin de la société d'histoire de Fréjus |volume=24 |pages=45–58 |access-date=2024-08-04 |archive-date=2024-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806080100/https://www.academia.edu/109833529 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the 1890s, local records show that paving stones were exported to modern-day Argentina, Bulgaria (Ruse), Romania (Brăila, Galați), Russia and Turkey.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Conseil général du Var |date=1893-08-01 |title=Rapports et délibérations du Conseil général du Département du Var |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5831495x/f472.image |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240804105516/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5831495x |archive-date=2024-08-04 |access-date=2024-08-04 |via=Gallica |page=CXXII |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Conseil général du Var |date=1892-08-01 |title=Rapports et délibérations du Conseil général du Département du Var |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k58392719/f432.image |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240804105511/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k58392719 |archive-date=2024-08-04 |access-date=2024-08-04 |page=CCXIII |language=fr|via=Gallica}}</ref> The 1920s saw the peak of the quarrying activity in the Dramont area: 800 of the village's 2,000 inhabitants worked in the quarries.<ref name=":4" /> In 1923, the "Carrières de Porphyre de Saint-Raphaël" owned 208 hectares<ref name=":6" /> and purchased in 1932 the Prola quarry which was afterwards connected to the main quarry by a Decauville line to transport the cobblestones by wagon.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Inventaire des Réseaux Spéciaux et Particuliers |date=4 June 2021 |title=Réseau des carrières de porphyre du Dramont (IRSP n°83118.1) |url=http://www.inventaires-ferroviaires.fr/hd83/83118.1.pdf |website=Inventaires Ferroviaires de France |language=fr |access-date=4 August 2024 |archive-date=12 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240512205744/http://www.inventaires-ferroviaires.fr/hd83/83118.1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
The extraction of esterellite at Le Dramont ended in 1959. Since 2022, the "Maison des Carriers" museum in Saint-Raphaël retraces the industrial and human history of the site, which operated from 1864 to 1959.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Saint-Raphaël |date=31 March 2022 |title=Le Dramont : la Maison des Carriers a ouvert ses portes |work=Ville de Saint-Raphaël : Site Internet |url=https://www.ville-saintraphael.fr/cultivee/patrimoine/actualite/le-dramont-la-maison-des-carriers-a-ouvert-ses-portes-5718}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|id=lH7waF2QqiM|title=Découvrez l'histoire fascinante des Carriers du Dramont}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=La Maison des Carriers |title=Audioguide – L'exploitation des carrières |url=https://www.ffagh.org/visite/audioguide-473.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240804201056/https://www.ffagh.org/visite/audioguide-473.html |archive-date=2024-08-04 |access-date=2024-08-04 |website=www.ffagh.org |language=fr}}</ref>
In 1959, Pierre Delli-Zotti founded the Grands Caous quarry (Provençal for ‘heat’), which he sold to Eiffage in 1998. It covers 45 hectares and it is authorized to produce up to 800,000 tonnes per year until 2042 (location: {{coord|43|25|53|N|6|49|35|E|region:FR_scale:5000|display=inline}}). The esterellite of the Grands Caous quarry is mainly used for the production of ripraps, such as blocks for the dikes of the ports of Saint-Raphaël and Fréjus, railway ballast and road gravel.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Joris |first=Jocelyne |date=2016-10-12 |title=Le nouveau projet de la carrière des Grands Caous à Saint-Raphaël |url=https://www.varmatin.com/vie-locale/le-nouveau-projet-de-la-carriere-des-grands-caous-a-saint-raphael-85016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240731093046/https://www.varmatin.com/vie-locale/le-nouveau-projet-de-la-carriere-des-grands-caous-a-saint-raphael-85016 |archive-date=2024-07-31 |access-date=2024-07-31 |website=Var-Matin |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Carrière de Boulouris |url=https://www.materiaux.eiffageroute.com/carriere-grands-caous/boulouris |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227223419/https://www.materiaux.eiffageroute.com/carriere-grands-caous/boulouris |archive-date=2024-02-27 |access-date=2024-07-31 |website=Materiaux Eiffage Route |language=fr}}</ref>
== World War II ==
During World War II, the esterellite quarries were requisitioned by the Organisation Todt to supply materials for the construction of the Mediterranean Wall, along with some of the employees. To do this, the esterellite pebbles had to be transported from the beach to the crusher in small hand-loaded wagons loaded, pulled by small locomotives. This was a labor-intensive operation all along the Poussaï beach at Le Dramont. The quarry management insisted that the beach not be mined, for the safety of the quarry workers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=La Maison des Carriers |title=Audioguide: les carrières histoire et environnement visite |url=https://www.ffagh.org/visite/audioguide-474.html |access-date=2024-08-04 |website=www.ffagh.org |language=fr |archive-date=2024-08-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240804201058/https://www.ffagh.org/visite/audioguide-474.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This request contributed to the success of the Operation Dragoon. The Allies landed on 15 August 1944 on Camel Green, code name of the vast pebble beach at Le Dramont, formed by the cobbles left over from sixty years of quarrying.<ref>{{cite book|last=Zaloga|first=Steven J.|title=Operation Dragoon 1944: France's other D-Day|publisher=Osprey Publishing|year=2009|isbn=978-1-84603-367-4|pages=46}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Carrière des Grands Caous |title=Le sentier paysager des Grands Caous |url=https://www.baragneurs.net/app/download/22109962/+Carriere+des+Grands+Caous_presentation.pdf |language=fr |access-date=2024-08-03 |archive-date=2021-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414161345/http://www.baragneurs.net/app/download/22109962/%20Carriere%20des%20Grands%20Caous_presentation.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> It was nicknamed the "Quarry beach" by the soldiers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Samuel Eliot Morison |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.98814 |title=The Invasion Of France And Germany 1944–1945 |date=1957 |series=History of United States naval operations in World War II |volume=XI |pages=268}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" widths="150" caption="Allies landing on Camel green beach, the esterellite quarry at Dramont, during Operation Dragoon"> File:SC 212184 - Flanked by infantrymen, a gun-carrying DUKW rolls across rocky 'Green' beach as U.S. Seventh Army troops invaded southern France. (50062180367).jpg File:Débarquement de Provence. Saint-Raphaël. Île d'Or.jpg File:Île d'Or. Le Dramont. Débarquement Provence 1944.jpg File:Île d'Or. Le Dramont. Débarquement Provence. 1944.jpg File:Île d'Or. Le Dramont. Debarquement. 1944.jpg File:Île d'Or. Le Dramont. Débarquement. 1944.jpg </gallery>
== See also ==
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Further reading ==
* Jean-Pierre Herreyres (2014). "Le Dramont. De la cité ouvrière au centre touristique 150 ans d’histoire : L’île d’Or". Publications de la Société d'histoire de Fréjus et de sa région. Hors-série (19): 110. {{ISSN|1773-7796}} (in French). * {{Citation |last=Lazzarini |first=Lorenzo |title=Ancient Mediterranean polychrome stones |date=2019 |work=The Contribution of Mineralogy to Cultural Heritage |pages=367–392 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339193828 |access-date=2024-08-07 |publisher=Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland |language=en |doi=10.1180/emu-notes.20.10 |isbn=978-0-903056-61-8|doi-access=free }} * {{Cite journal |last=Quin |first=J.P. |url=https://pascal-francis.inist.fr/vibad/index.php?action=getRecordDetail&lang=en&idt=GEODEBRGMFR0734943 |title=Quelques complements à la pétrographie de l'estérellite. |journal=Travaux Laboratoire Géologie Faculté Sciences Université Aix-Marseille. |language=fr |date=1963}} * {{Cite journal |last1=Wever |first1=Patrick de |last2=Cornée |first2=Annie |last3=Egoroff |first3=Grégoire |last4=Collin |first4=Gérard |last5=Duranthon |first5=Francis |last6=Lalanne |first6=Arnault |last7=Kermadec |first7=Claire de |last8=Lucet |first8=Stéphane |date=2019-01-16 |title=Patrimoine géologique : notion, état des lieux, valorisation |url=https://mnhn.hal.science/mnhn-02021376 |journal=Naturae |language=fr |volume=2019 |issue=1 |pages=1–58 |url-access= |doi-access= |hdl-access=}} It contains a list of rocks whose name is based on a locality or a family name.
== External links ==
* {{Cite web |title=Dacite (Esterellite) |url=https://lithotheque.ens-lyon.fr/Lithotheque/FormRech/page.php?recup=A18.1 |access-date=2024-07-31 |website=lithotheque.ens-lyon.fr}} * {{Mindat|name=Esterellite}} * {{Cite web |last=Crocenzi |first=Francesco Paolo |title=Porfido Bigio |url=http://www.romanmarbles.com/#!/en/stone/5fe9e1c1218b6d012917a124 |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=www.romanmarbles.com}}
Category:Plutonic rocks Category:Geology of France Category:Porphyritic rocks Category:Operation Dragoon