Alpe Stofful

Title: Alpe Stofful
Description: The place is strongly linked to the Walser culture as there were active quarries for the extraction and processing of soapstone. Soapstone has been mined since time immemorial on the slopes of the Corni di Stofful in Alagna. The main quarry is located NE of the Stofful Superiore alp. There once existed an evident although not deep excavation, which was buried in the last century by a landslide; currently there is an open-air quarry on the site, occasionally visited by local tourists; The primary interest of the site is geo-mineral. Near
Alpe Stoffult there are quarries for the extraction of
Serpentinite with Talc, the so-called soapstone.
Geosite element: Zermatt-Saas Unit; glacial basin; excavation
Lithology: serpentinite; schist; Serpentinite with Talc
Interest: Geomining; Geomining; Petrographic; Geomining; the site was previously a soapstone mine.
Landform shape: Anthropogenic - Excavations; outcrops; Denudative - Landslide; excessive minings created a landslide exposing reservoirs of soapstone
Related to event: Alpine Orogenesis; Quaternary glaciation of Mount Rosa
Event environment: crustal setting; glacier related setting
Event process: continental collision; contact metamorphism; due to the landslide , following metamorphic and metasomatic processes creating soapstone
Older named age: Paleocene
Younger named age: Holocene
Numeric age: 65 My
Older numeric age: 2025