Shoksha quartzite

File:Shoksha deposits.png directly northwards of Shoksha]]

Shoksha quartzite, Shoksha porphyry, or crimson quartzite ({{langx|ru|малиновый кварцит}}, literally "raspberry quartzite") is quartzose sandstone of deep red color variously described as purple or crimson resembling true porphyry.[https://igkrc.ru/geomuseum/articles/shoksha Малиновый кварцит] It is named after {{ill|Shoksha, Karelia|ru|Шокша (Карелия)}}, a village in Prionezhsky District, Karelia, Russia, close to its deposits. Currently it is mined mostly in the nearby miner's settlement of {{ill|Kvartzitny|ru|Кварцитный (Карелия)}} by Lake Onega.[https://xn----stb8d.xn--p1ai/shokshinskij-kvarcit/ Шокшинский кварцит] Its shades of red color is due to iron oxides.

This durable and expensive material was used for decoration of many Russian palaces, cathedrals and sculptures.

Scrap crimson quartzite is of various utility in Russia. Due to its high heat resistance it is used for fireplaces in banyas and saunas. Its durability makes it suitable for pavements. Due to its aesthetic qualities it is used minor decorations, etc.[https://www.stoneunion.ru/news/malinovyi-kvartsit-mestorozhdenie-ispolzovanie Малиновый кварцит. Месторождение, использование]

In Soviet times the major usage of Shoksha quartzite was in glass industry, for grinding balls and linings used in grinders for grinding mineral components for glass.[https://www.karel-stone.ru/artkl_3.html Шокшинский кварцит]

In 1981 the estimated volume of the Shiksha quartzite field was over 1.3 million cubic meters.

Notable uses

File:Napoleone Bonaparte's Tomb.jpg

Napoleon's tomb
Decorations of the lift hall of Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya, one of "Stalinist skyscrapers"A. Bulakh, [https://www.episodes.org/journal/view.html?uid=964 “Porphyries” from Russia and Sweden used in St Petersburg and Russian “porphyry” used in Paris: misuse of a geological term for some possible candidate as a Global Heritage Stone Resource], {{doi|10.18814/epiiugs/2015/v38i2/007}}
Several elements of Saint Isaac's Cathedral, including details of the bust to the cathedral's architect Auguste de Montferrand
Friezes in the main façade of Saint Michael's Castle
Pedestal of the Tsar Nicholas I monument
Letters "LENIN" and some other elements of Lenin's MausoleumАлексей Абрамов, [https://leninism.su/books/3716-pravda-i-vymysly-o-kremlevskom-nekropole-i-mavzolee.html?start=4 Правда и вымыслы о кремлевском некрополе и Мавзолее]

Shoksha quartzite

Notable uses

References

Further reading