Lithographic limestone is hard limestone that is sufficiently fine-grained, homogeneous and defect free to be used for lithography.
Geologists use the term "lithographic texture" to refer to a grain size under 1/250 mm. [1]
The term "sublithographic" is sometimes used for homogeneous fine-grained limestone with a somewhat coarser texture. [2]
The generally accepted theory for the origin of lithographic and sublithographic limestones is that they were formed in shallow, stagnant, hypersaline, and anoxic lagoons. The combination of mild hypersalinity and low oxygen content is believed to have inhibited the formation of microbial mats and prevented the invasion of bottom dwelling organisms. Microbial mats and bottom dwelling organisms would have left fossils, and bottom dwelling organisms would have churned the accumulating sediment, producing a less homogeneous rock. Stagnancy was required to avoid churning or sculpting of the sediment by currents or wave action. [3] [4]
The original source for lithographic limestone was the Solnhofen Limestone, named after the quarries of Solnhofen where it was first found. This is a late Jurassic deposit, part of a deposit of plattenkalk (a very fine-grained limestone that splits into thin plates, usually micrite) that extends through the Swabian Alb and Franconian Alb in Southern Germany. [5] Only a small fraction of plattenkalk is suitable for lithography. [4]
For many years, the Solnhofen deposits were the only source of lithographic limestone. French lithographic limestone from quarries near Montdardier, about 6 km (3.7 mi) south of le Vigan, Gard was exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851, where it earned an honorable mention. This stone is from the upper Lias Group, from the early Jurassic. [6] [7] The largest lithographic printing stone ever quarried came from Le Vigan, 230 x 150cm (90 x 59 in). [8] Théophile Steinlen used a comparable stone for some of his posters. [9] Several quarries are visible today on the chalky plateau above Montdardier, between 2 km (1.2 mi) north ( 43°56′54.46″N3°35′3.44″E / 43.9484611°N 3.5842889°E ), and 2 km west ( 43°55′52.61″N3°33′38.78″E / 43.9312806°N 3.5607722°E ) of the town.
Shortly before 1867, a second lithographic limestone quarry was opened in France near Cerin and Crey, Isère ( 45°46′45.77″N5°33′14.06″E / 45.7793806°N 5.5539056°E ). [10] The lithographic limestones of Cerin are from the Kimmeridgian stage of the Upper Jurassic, and as with the Solnhofen deposits, they preserve numerous interesting fossils. [11]
Lithographic limestone from the Lower Cretaceous has been quarried near Santa Maria de Meià on the south flank of the Serra del Montsec in Spain. In 1902, L. M. Vidal, a mining engineer, recognized the importance of the fossils found there. [12]
The American Lithographic Stone Company was organized in Louisville, Kentucky in late 1868. It initially focused its operation on quarries in Overton County, Tennessee, [13] but shortly before 1900, it opened a quarry at Brandenburg, Kentucky. This quarry was the only commercial source of lithographic stone in the United States at the turn of the 20th century. Unlike the Solnhofen stone, Kentucky lithographic limestone was slightly dolomitic, and it was judged to be competitive with Solnhofen stone for some purposes, but not for the highest quality work. [14] [15] This stone source was sub-Carboniferous (Mississippian). [16] In 1917, the Brandenburg quarry was judged the most important source of lithographic stone in the United States. [17] Prior to 1916, the output of the Brandenburg quarry was small, but in 1916, as World War I cut off access to Solnhofen stone, the quarry produced 20 tons of finished lithographic stone. [18] The Remains of the Brandenburg Lithograph Quarry are located along the Buttermilk Falls Historic Walking Trail ( 38°0′3.54″N86°9′34.74″W / 38.0009833°N 86.1596500°W ). [19]
In 1903, Clement L. Webster discovered a bed of lithographic limestone about 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of Orchard, Iowa. His company, the Interstate Investment & Development Company platted a town named Lithograph City nearby and opened a quarry ( 43°11′38.2″N92°48′59.52″W / 43.193944°N 92.8165333°W ). [20] [21] The Lithograph City Formation of the Cedar Valley Group straddles the border between the Middle and Late Devonian and was named for its exposure in this quarry. Outcrops of this formation extend from near Cedar Falls, Iowa north into Minnesota. [22] The suitability of Lithograph City limestone for lithography was tested by A. B. Hoen who reported that stone from two layers in the Lithograph City quarry was excellent for lithography and finer grained than the finest Solnhofen stone. [23] Lithograph City was an important source of lithographic stone in the United States during World War I, but the quarries closed as metal printing plates replaced stone. In 1918, the Devonian Products Company took over the operation, focusing on the production of crushed rock and renaming the town Devonia. [24] By 1938, the town had disappeared. [25]
Lithography is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German author and actor Alois Senefelder and was initially used mostly for musical scores and maps. Lithography can be used to print text or images onto paper or other suitable material. A lithograph is something printed by lithography, but this term is only used for fine art prints and some other, mostly older, types of printed matter, not for those made by modern commercial lithography.
Orchard is a city in Mitchell County, Iowa, United States. The population was 68 at the time of the 2020 census.
The Solnhofen Limestone or Solnhofen Plattenkalk, formally known as the Altmühltal Formation, is a Jurassic Konservat-Lagerstätte that preserves a rare assemblage of fossilized organisms, including highly detailed imprints of soft bodied organisms such as sea jellies. The most familiar fossils of the Solnhofen Plattenkalk include the early feathered theropod dinosaur Archaeopteryx preserved in such detail that they are among the most famous and most beautiful fossils in the world. The Solnhofen beds lie in the German state of Bavaria (Bayern), halfway between Nuremberg (Nürnberg) and Munich (München) and were originally quarried as a source of lithographic limestone. The Jura Museum situated in Eichstätt, Germany has an extensive exhibit of Jurassic fossils from the quarries of Solnhofen and surroundings, including marine reptiles, pterosaurs, and one specimen of the early bird Archaeopteryx.
The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Upper Jurassic sedimentary rock found in the western United States which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltstone, and limestone and is light gray, greenish gray, or red. Most of the fossils occur in the green siltstone beds and lower sandstones, relics of the rivers and floodplains of the Jurassic period.
Johann Alois Senefelder was a German actor and playwright who invented the printing technique of lithography in the 1790s.
Solnhofen is a municipality in the district of Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen in the region of Middle Franconia in the Land of Bavaria in Germany. It is in the Altmühl valley.
The Hamilton Group is a Devonian-age geological group which is located in the Appalachian region of the United States. It is present in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, northwestern Virginia and Ontario, Canada, and is mainly composed of marine shale with some sandstone.
A. Hoen & Co. was a Baltimore, Maryland-based lithography firm founded by Edward Weber in the 1840s as E. Weber & Company. When August Hoen took it over following Weber's death, he changed the name and built the company into one of the most prominent in the industry at the time. In 1877, Hoen entered a print produced by his patented lithocaustic process in the Centennial Exposition. This work, entitled "The Continentals" was "commended for excellence in chromo-lithographic art" by the judges.
The Blue Lias is a geological formation in southern, eastern and western England and parts of South Wales, part of the Lias Group. The Blue Lias consists of a sequence of limestone and shale layers, laid down in latest Triassic and early Jurassic times, between 195 and 200 million years ago. The Blue Lias is famous for its fossils, especially ammonites.
The Solnhofen Limestone or Solnhofen Plattenkalk is a collective term for multiple Late Jurassic lithographic limestones in southeastern Germany, which is famous for its well preserved fossil flora and fauna dating to the late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian-Tithonian). The paleoenvironment is also often referred to as the Solnhofen Archipelago. The Solnhofen Archipelago was located at the northern edge of the Tethys Ocean as part of a shallow epicontinental sea and is firmly a part of the Mediterranean realm.
Berea Sandstone, also known as Berea Grit, is a sandstone formation in the U.S. states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky. It is named after Berea, Ohio. The sandstone has been used as a building stone and is a source of oil and gas.
Plattenkalk is a very finely grained limestone chemically precipitated in a stratified water column under conditions where bioturbation does not occur. The reasons for the quiet depositional environment and the processes of sediment accumulation vary greatly among different plattenkalks, but the lack of bioturbation contributes to the creation of thinly bedded, finely laminated, undisturbed limestones where exceptionally detailed fossils or imprints of organisms occur. The Solnhofen Plattenkalk in Bavaria is a famous example where complete skeletons of large marine vertebrates and impressions of soft-bodied animals have been found. Lithographic limestone is a type of plattenkalk chosen for its suitable lithography characteristics.
Fossiliferous limestone is a type of limestone that contains noticeable quantities of fossils or fossil traces. If a particular type of fossil dominates, a more specialized term can be used as in "Crinoidal", "Coralline", "Conchoidal" limestone. If seashells, shell fragments, and shell sand form a significant part of the rock, a term "shell limestone" is used.
The Lithograph City Formation is a geologic formation in Iowa, part of the Cedar Valley Group. It preserves fossils dating back to the Devonian period. The formation is composed of dolomite and limestone, with many fossils and vugs in the lower part, while the upper part contains few fossils.
The Cedar Valley Formation is a geologic formation in Iowa. It preserves fossils dating back to the Devonian period. No type locality has ever been designated for this formation, but it is best known for limestone and dolomite exposures in and around Johnson County, Iowa. The formation is exposed in numerous road cuts, quarries and valley walls over much of north-east and north-central Iowa.
The Nusplingen Limestone is a geological formation in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It preserves fossils dating to the Kimmeridgian age of the Late Jurassic. It mainly consists of lithographic limestones deposited in a marine basin, similar to the Solnhofen Limestone. Fossils of pterosaurs, thalattosuchians, and the oldest geophilomorph centipede Eogeophilus were found in the Nusplingen Limestone.
Eichstaettisaurus is a genus of lizards from the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Germany, Spain, and Italy. With a flattened head, forward-oriented and partially symmetrical feet, and tall claws, Eichstaettisaurus bore many adaptations to a climbing lifestyle approaching those of geckoes. The type species, E. schroederi, is among the oldest and most complete members of the Squamata, being known by one specimen originating from the Tithonian-aged Solnhofen Limestone of Germany. A second species, E. gouldi, was described from another skeleton found in the Matese Mountains of Italy. Despite being very similar to E. schroederi, it lived much later, during the Albian stage. Fossils of both species show exceptional preservation due to deposition in low-oxygen marine environments.
The paleontological site of Cerin is a fossil deposit of the Jura Mountains located in Cerin, a hamlet belonging to the commune of Marchamp in the department of Ain. The site is internationally known for its surprising diversity.
The Canjuers Lagerstätte is a Konservat-Lagerstätte located inside the military camp of Canjuers, in Haute Provence, in the Var department in South-East France.
