Page 20 - MSc_thesis_R A Kil

2 Geographical and geological setting

2.1 Location

The island of Favignana is part of the Aegadian archipelago. Together with Levanzo and Marettimo it
forms a group of rather small islands located approximately five kilometres from the west coast of Sicily,
southern Italy (see figure A.2 in appendix A). Figure A.3 — in the same appendix — is a detailed map of
Favignana, showing elevation, buildings and roads, as well as geographical names of locations described
in this report.
This study focusses on the bioclastic carbonate deposits on the eastern part of Favignana. Most of the
houses on the island are build with stones extracted from this rock, locally known as tufo. This name,
however, does not refer to rocks with volcanic origin, known as tuff. Some claim the tufo, which is a
common name assigned to similar soft sedimentary rocks throughout Italy, is named after the sound a
hammer makes while hitting the rock.

2.2 Morphology

Favignana differs from the other two Aegadian islands when looking at its morphological characteristics.
While Levanzo and Marettimo practically only consist of a mountain rising from the sea, Favignana’s
Monte Santa Caterina is flanked by areas with lower relief (figure 2.2a). The eastern side of the mountain
shows a more than 50 metres high cliff in the north, with a surface gradually dipping to the south.
Compared to the 300 metres high Monte Santa Caterina this can be considered relatively flat. The
south dipping surface can theoretically be caused by either depositional or erosional processes. However,
observations made during this study indicate that sedimentary structures are truncated in the top part —
see figure 2.2b — hence suggesting an erosive nature of the topography.
The situation of the main quarried areas is shown in figure A.4. Quarrying has been going on for hundreds
of years, and was first concentrated on the outcrops along the coast. This is where the oldest quarries
can be found. Transportation of the mined rock was easy due to the access from the sea. Later, people
started to quarry the rock more inland. Some interesting observations can be made on the geometry of

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