Journal of African Earth Sciences 55 (2009) 1–9

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Journal of African Earth Sciences

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Petrophysical behaviour and durability of the Miocene sandstones

used in the architectural heritage of Tunisia (Roman aqueduct
of Oued Miliane and Uthina Roman site)
K. Zoghlami a,*, D. Gómez-Gras b
a
Université de Carthage, Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, Département de Géologie, Tunisia
b
Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Departamento de Geología, Spain

a r t i c l e i n f o s u m m a r y

Article history: In the present work, the relationship between intrinsic factors, mechanical properties and durability of
Received 29 June 2006 Miocene sandstones used in the architectural heritage of Tunisia, specifically in the Roman aqueduct
Accepted 11 December 2008 of Oued Miliane and Uthina site, are studied. The petrographic study and the characterisation of porous
Available online 9 April 2009
network have been carried out using optical microscopy, mercury intrusion porosimetry and laser scan-
ner confocal microscopy (LSCM). The hygric behaviour has also been determined from water absorption
Keywords: under vacuum, drying, capillary water absorption and water vapour permeability. The mechanical prop-
Sandstone
erties have been assessed from compressive strength and abrasion tests. Rock durability has been eval-
Petrographic characteristics
Hygric and mechanical properties
uated from salt crystallization (sodium sulphate) accelerated aging tests. The results show good hygric
Durability behaviour characterised by a high evaporation rate and almost no retention of water; due to the macro-
Oued Miliane aqueduct porous character of the rock and the good connectivity of the pore network. Because of the poor lithifi-
Uthina Roman site cation, the stone has a very low mechanical strength which makes it very vulnerable to the salt
crystallization effects. The absence of chemically unstable minerals preserves the rock from chemical
alteration. The durability of the building stone is mainly conditioned by salt loading of the monument.
Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction and aim of the research
This research is focused on the study of sandstone outcropping
in the north-east of Tunisia which belongs to the Fortuna Forma-
tion (upper Oligocene–lower Miocene; Yaich, 1992), specifically
to its fluvial–continental facies of Aquitanian–Burdigalian age
(Gómez-Gras et al., 2004). The interest on this type of rock lies in
the fact that it has been frequently used in the architectural heri-
tage of Tunisia (i.e. the Oued Miliane aqueduct and Uthina Roman
site) and its potential use in restoration or intervention works. The
aqueduct of Zaghouan–Carthage is about 132 km long, the largest
of all the Roman Empire, and represents the most important Ro-
man work in Africa. Most of the aerial constructions (17 km) are
found in the valley of Oued Miliane (Rakob, 1979; Fernández Casa-
do, 1983). This part shows a critical state of decay mainly due to
structural reasons (instability problems, presence of fissures and
cracks) coupled with a weak disintegration of the rock. Uthina city
is located 30 km to the south of Tunis and occupies a surface area
of 100 ha. It was founded in the first half of the first century AD and
is one of the best preserved Roman sites in Africa. Nevertheless, the
Miocene sandstones that constitute most of the building materials
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +216 21155880.
E-mail address: karimazoghlami@hotmail.com (K. Zoghlami).
of this monument present some degradation forms (Cara et al.,
2002). The aim of the present work is the study of the physical
behaviour and durability of the sandstone in order to establish cri-
teria for the selection of appropriate building stone to be used for
restoration of the Tunisian monuments, particularly with regards
to Oued Miliane aqueduct and Uthina Roman site.
2. Results and discussion
The petrography and the porous system of the rock have been
studied by means of optical microscopy, mercury intrusion poros-
imetry, and laser scanner confocal microscopy (LSCM). Studies on
hygric behaviour (water absorption and desorption), swelling and
salt crystallization tests as well as the determination of mechanical
properties and abrasion were carried out according to RILEM
(1980) and NORMAL (1981, 1985, 1988) recommendations and
to UNE standards (1995, 1999).
2.1. Geological setting
The Oligo-Miocene deposits of the central and north-eastern
areas of Tunisia (Fig. 1) are essentially detritic and are constituted
by the Fortuna, Messiouta, Grijima and Ain Grab Formations. The
rocks are Oligocene to Langhian in age. They originate from depo-

1464-343X/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2008.12.003
2 K. Zoghlami, D. Gómez-Gras / Journal of African Earth Sciences 55 (2009) 1–9
Fig. 1. Location map.
sition in deltaic to shallow marine or coastal environments (Yaich,
1992; Yaich et al., 2000).
The Fortuna Formation has been subdivided into three units
(Fig. 2). The lower unit is lower Rupelian to lower Chatian in age
(upper Oligocene), and the middle unit is Aquitanian in age (lower
Miocene). They are mainly composed of fine sandstones and lutites
with interstratified calcareous layers. The upper unit crops out in
the north-eastern part of Tunisia, where this work has been carried
out (Figs. 1 and 3). It has a thickness of 130 m and includes fine to
coarse-grained sandstones with dispersed boulders of quartz
deposited in a braided fluvial environment (Gómez-Gras et al.,
2004). Roman quarries located in this unit provided most of the
material for the construction of the Uthina Roman site and the
Oued Miliane aqueduct (Fig. 3).
2.2. Petrographic study
These sandstones are quartzarenites (Fig. 4A) mainly com-
posed of monocrystalline quartz (69–84%) and K-feldspar (0–
1%, orthoclase and microcline). infiltrated clay matrix (0–
10.2%), essentially mixed layer of illite–smectite and kaolinite.
Fragments of plutonic (granitoids), metamorphic (quartzites)
and sedimentary (sands cemented by quartz) rocks appear as
accessories, together with mica (muscovite and biotite) and hea-
vy minerals (tourmaline and zircon) (Gómez-Gras et al., 2004).
The modal analyses (Table 1) are obtained by point-counting
of 28 thin-sections of sandstone sampled from the Roman quar-
ries (Level 3 of stratigraphic section) according to Gazzi–Dickin-
son’s method (Ingersoll et al., 1984). Four lithotypes were
distinguished:
1. Clay-free, extremely to very well-sorted fine-grained sandstone
(Fig. 4A),
2. Clay-containing, extremely to very well-sorted fine-grained
sandstone (Fig. 4B),
3. Clay-free, moderately sorted medium-grained sandstone,
4. Clay-containing moderately sorted medium-grained sandstone.
In all sandstone lithotypes cement is scarce and lithification of the
rock is mainly due to mechanical and chemical compaction. The
degree of compaction has been obtained subtracting the final inter-
granular volume value (final VIG) from the initial intergranular
volume value (initial VIG), as deduced from Beard and Weyl values
(1973) (Zoghlami et al., 2004a). Fine-grained sandstones are more
lithified than coarse-grained sandstones due to the larger number
of grain contacts, greater pressure dissolution area and the greater
intergranular volume compaction loss (compacted VIG) of the fine-
grained sandstones (Table 2).
 K. Zoghlami, D. Gómez-Gras / Journal of African Earth Sciences 55 (2009) 1–9
Fig. 2. Geological map and stratigraphic section of the studied area.
2.3. Study of porous network
Effective porosity of the rock, determined by mercury intrusion
porosimetry, shows high values (17.50–25.86%). Macroporosity
(pore diameter >15 lm, according to Goñi et al. (1968) and Bous-
quié et al. (1980) represents a percentage of 82.34–85.52%,
whereas microporosity ranges from 12.82% to 14.65%, which is
indicative of the sandstone’s macroporous character (Table 3).
Variations in porosity and average pore diameter values are related
to the presence of clay minerals, sorting and degree of compaction
(Zoghlami et al., 2004a). The presence of a clay matrix increases the
microporosity values and especially the infraporosity (Table 3). In
samples with similar petrographic features, the presence of clay
minerals reduces the pore size access, as can be observed by com-
paring the pore size distribution in the clay-free and clay-contain-
ing samples (Fig. 5A and B).
Mercury porosimetry results show that most of the pores
(>80%) have a pore access diameter in the range of 10–40 lm,
depending on grain size, sorting and clay content of the rock. The
rest of the pores (<20%) present a diameter pore access of less than
15 lm (micropores).
As mercury porosimetry only measures pore access, real pore
size was measured using LSCM (Zoghlami et al., 2004b). The results
3
show that pore sizes in fine-grained sandstones range from 50–60
to 120 lm. In the medium-grained sandstones, the main pore size
amounts to about 200 lm on average, reaching up to 600 lm at
maximum (Fig. 6A and B).
The 3D reconstruction of the porous network (Fig. 6C and D)
illustrates it is made of a single pore system whose configuration
only depends on grain arrangements and degree of compaction.
The porous network is constituted by channels (<40 lm in diame-
ter) that may occasionally expand, giving rise to megapores, with
diameters up to 300 lm in case of the fine-grained sandstone
and up to 600 lm for the coarse-grained sandstones.
The combined data from LSCM and mercury intrusion porosi-
metry has allowed proving that porosity is present as large pores
which are interconnected by channels that constitute pore acces-
ses. Although of smaller size with respect to the main pores, these
pore accesses are still large (10–40 lm).
2.4. Hygric behaviour
Hygric tests have been carried out on seven samples repre-
senting the different lithotypes previously described. Data in Ta-
ble 4 correspond to the more significant values of the hygric
parameters.
4 K. Zoghlami, D. Gómez-Gras / Journal of African Earth Sciences 55 (2009) 1–9

Fig. 3. Upper unit stratigraphic section of Fortuna Formation.

 K. Zoghlami, D. Gómez-Gras / Journal of African Earth Sciences 55 (2009) 1–9 5

Fig. 4. Microphotographs showing some details of the studied sandstones. (A) Clay-free sandstone, scale 400 lm. (B) Clay-containing sandstone, scale 400 lm.

Table 1 Table 2
Petrographic characteristics of sandstone tested samples. Grain size, compactness and compressive strength.

Components (%) Fine-grained Medium-grained Values Fine-grained sandstones Coarse-grained sandstones

sandstones sandstones (mean grain size: (mean grain size:
0.210 mm) 0.420 mm)
Quartz Mean 73.9 Mean 76.08
Max 84 Max 71.6 Pressure- Mean 53.20 20.22
Min 69 Min 81.2 dissolution Max 61.35 22.64
K-feldspar Orthoclase Mean 0.5 Mean 0.23 seams (%) Min 49.6 18.6
Microcline Max 1 Max 0 Number of Mean 24 8
Min 0 Min 0.7 contacts Max 29 12
Rock fragments Plutonic Mean 0.85 Mean 1.83 Min 20 6
Metamorphic Max 1.7 Max 5.5 Initial VIG (%) Mean 41.3 34.2
Sedimentary Min 0 Min 0.2 Max 42.4 34.6
Clay-matrix Mean 4.25 Mean 4.5 Min 40.80 34
Max 10.2 Max 9.2 Final VIG (%) Mean 27.5 23.9
Min 0 Min 0 Max 28.4 24.90
Cement ferruginous Mean 0.1 Mean 0.1 Min 27.64 22.32
Max 0.2 Max 0.3 Compacted Mean 13.4 10.9
Min 0 Min 0 VIG (%) Max 14 11.2
Micas Biotite Mean 0.23 Mean 0.1 Min 12.86 10.7
Muscovite Max 0.5 Max 0.3 Compressive Mean 19.84 4.9
Min 0 Min 0 strength Max 24.32 5.49
Heavy minerals Tourmaline Mean 0.1 Mean 0.08 (MPa) Min 15.69 4.32
Zircon Max 0.4 Max 0.2
Min 0 Min 0
Sorting Moderately to Moderately to well-
extremely-sorted sorted The observed variation in the capillary water absorption curves
is due to the variable presence of clays (0–10.2%). Clays partially or
completely plug the smaller pore accesses causing a decrease in
The porosity (P) and the saturation coefficient (Ws) can be con- the connectivity of the pore network and a reduction in the flux
sidered as very high. The water absorption capillary coefficient (C) of water absorption.
is also elevated as indicated by the curves of capillary water With respect to dry kinetics, the critical water content values
absorption (Fig. 7). The capillary saturation degree (Si) is very high, (Wc), were found to be very low. This explains the high evaporation
accounting for more than 80% of the amount of absorbed water un- rate (Fig. 8), since nearly all the water in the capillaries evaporates
der vacuum, which is indicative of the excellent connectivity of the at the rock surface. These values are also indicative of good connec-
pore network of this sandstone. tivity of the pore network.

Table 3
Sorting, clay content and porosity properties (mercury intrusion porosimetry).
a b c
Samples Values Total porosity (%) Macro-porosity (%) Micro-porosity (%) Infra- porosity (%) Average diameter (lm) Mode (lm)
Clay-containing samples Mean 19.24 82.21 14 14 3.65 10–20
Max 20.80 82.52 14.32 14.32 4.22
Min 17.50 81.68 13.35 13.35 3.37
Clay-free samples Mean 24.39 85.89 12.24 12.24 1.74 20–30
Max 25.86 89.18 14.65 14.65 1.93
Min 22.35 83.47 8.65 8.65 1.36
a
Macroporosity: pore diameter > 15 lm.
b
Microporosity: pore diameter < 15 lm.
c
Infraporosity: pore diameter < 0.1 lm.
6 K. Zoghlami, D. Gómez-Gras / Journal of African Earth Sciences 55 (2009) 1–9
Fig. 5. Porosity distribution deduced from mercury porosimetry. (A) Clay-free
sandstone, (B) Clay-containing sandstone.
The water content after evaporation (Se) was very low, indicat-
ing that there is almost no retention of water. This characteristic
feature of such sandstones results from the high connectivity,
demonstrated with 3D reconstruction, and the total absence of
any cementing material.
Fig. 6. LSCM image. (A) General aspect of the sandstone porosity. Scale bar: 80 lm. (B) Detailed image of pores (real size of pores). Scale bar: 40 lm. (C) 3D reconstruction of
the porous network. Scale bar: 40 lm. (D) Pore detail. Scale bar: 40 lm.
The water vapour permeability is high, as shown by the values
of the respective coefficient (d) given in Table 5; this is consistent
with the results on pore network connectivity described above. The
values differences are due to the variable presence of clays (0–
10.2%) which partially obstruct the throats, modifying the configu-
ration of the pore network and reducing connectivity (Zoghlami
et al., 2004a; López de Azcona et al., 2002; Veniale et al., 2001;
Zoghlami et al., 2005).
Results obtained from swelling test show hygric expansion in
the sandstones to be extremely low, despite the presence of int-
erstratified illite–smectite clay minerals in the samples detected
by XRD.
2.5. Mechanical behaviour
Results gathered from compressive strength (UNE-EN, 1999)
and abrasion (UNE-EN ISO, 1995) tests of the sandstone are shown
in Table 6 for samples with different grain sizes.
Strength and abrasion values vary in dependence on grain size.
Strength of the medium-grained sandstones is lower compared to
the finer-grained, more lithified sandstones. Correspondingly,
abrasion on the medium-grained sandstone is higher than on the
fine-grained sandstones.
2.6. Durability
The durability has been studied using the salt (sodium sulphate)
crystallization test (RILEM, 1980; Warker and Smith, 2000). An in-
crease of weight during the first cycle can be observed in Fig. 9,
which may be related to the crystallization of thenardite within
the pores.
 K. Zoghlami, D. Gómez-Gras / Journal of African Earth Sciences 55 (2009) 1–9 7

Table 4
Hygric parameters obtained from different sandstone lithotypes.

Petrographic characteristics Values Parameters

P (%) Ws (%) C (kg/m2 s0.5) Si (%) Se (%) Wc (%)
Clay-free grained sandstones Mean 25.05 12.70 0.71 82.57 0.59 3.64
Max 25.42 12.86 0.740 83.13 0.73 3.81
Min 24.59 12.61 0.682 82.10 0.47 3.42
Clay-containing (5–10%) grained sandstones Mean 19.80 9.32 0.125 74.58 1.20 2.17
Max 21.15 10.11 0.149 76.16 1.55 2.57
Min 18.45 8.53 0.100 73.00 0.85 1.76

P: accessible porosity; Ws: water saturation under vacuum; C: water capillary absorption coefficient; Si: capillary saturation degree; Se: final water content at the end of the
dry process; Wc: critical water content.

Table 6
Mechanical properties.

Samples Values Linear abrasion Samples Compressive

(mm) strength (MPa)
Fine-grained Mean 36.70 Mean 19.85
sandstones Max 36.85 Max 24.32
Min 36.48 Min 15.69
Medium-grained Mean 50.01 Mean 4.91
sandstones Max 50.08 Max 5.49
Min 49.94 Min 4.32

Fig. 7. (Sandstone lithotypes). Capillarity water absorption curves.

Fig. 9. Weight-loss during salt weathering test.

During the second cycle of crystallization, the thenardite to

Fig. 8. (Sandstone lithotypes). Water desorption curves. We: specimen water
content; t: time.
Table 5
Water vapour permeability.
Petrographic characteristics
Clay free fine-grained sandstones
Clay-containing fine-grained sandstones
a
Coefficient of water vapour permeability.
mirabilite hydration (Iñiguez Herreno, 1961; Domaslowski et al.,
1982; Arnold and Kueng, 1985; Alonso, 1986; Arnold and Zehen-
der, 1989; Martín Pérez, 1990) is accompanied by a partial sanding
in the outermost layers of the samples, facilitating the disintegra-
tion of the external surface (Fig. 10A and B).
Because of their greater degree of lithification and absence of
sedimentary laminations, the fine-grained samples better resisted
salt attack. Samples of medium to coarse grain size collapsed at
the end of the fourth cycle. In addition, when lamination was pres-
ent, samples tended to split and flake along these anisotropies dur-
ing the second and third immersion cycles. This is due to the
a
d (10 9
) (kg/m s Pa) disruptive forces resulting from the accumulation of salts (thenar-
dite) following the discontinuities. The weakness showed by the
Mean 61.19
Max 68.80 laminated sandstones, particularly when the grains were coarse,
Min 54.52 is due to their lesser bonding cohesion. The presence of clays also
Mean 38.12 favours the decay as they increase the microporosity. However,
Max 41.28 this feature seems to have a smaller effect on durability than the
Min 33.55
grain size and the presence of laminations (López de Azcona
et al., 2002; Veniale et al., 2001).
8 K. Zoghlami, D. Gómez-Gras / Journal of African Earth Sciences 55 (2009) 1–9
Fig. 10. Forms of decay in studied sandstone. (A) Aspect of samples during the first cycle of salt crystallisation test. (B) Photo showing surface disintegration during the fourth
cycle of salt crystallisation test.
Several authors relate the intensity of rock decay to the micro-
porosity values (Grossi and Esbert, 1994; Ordoñez et al., 1997; Fort
et al., 2002) and to the size of pores, since the smaller the pore size
the more aggressive the decay (Luxán and Dorrego, 2004). Given
the low microporosity and the high pore size of the studied sam-
ples (Table 3), the weak rock resistance to salt weathering is attrib-
uted to the absence of cementing phases, the sparse cohesion
between the rock components and the low compactness
coefficient.
3. Conclusion
The integration of petrographic studies with hygric, mechanical
and durability tests has shown that the decay of the studied stone
can only be attributed to mechanical processes. Several factors lead
to the prevention of any chemical alteration of the rock: the over-
whelming presence of quartz, the absence of chemically unstable
mineral grains or cements and the good hygric behaviour. The hyg-
ric processes are characterised by a high evaporation rate and al-
most no retention of water due to the high connectivity of the
porous network and the macroporosity character of the rock. The
mechanical test results indicate that the vulnerability of this mate-
rial is caused by the low mechanical strength and the poor lithifi-
cation which is due to the absence of a cement phase. The
durability tests revealed the vulnerability of the studied building
stone to the weathering agents, which involved disruptive
mechanical forces such as salt crystallization and freezing pro-
cesses. The absence of soluble salts in the monument environment
as well as the lack of freezing in the region explains the good con-
servation of the building stone. Nevertheless, the local presence of
salts in some stone blocks of Uthina Roman site, most probably due
to the mortar used in the restoration works, explains their intense
degradation.
The petrophysical, mechanical and alterability studies of the
Miocene sandstones lithotypes from the Roman quarries provided
in the present work allow to predict their behaviour and durability.
This rock was used as building material not only in the Oued Mil-
iane aqueduct and Uthina Roman city but in other Tunisian monu-
ments in the region. This is required information in order to
determine the actual and future decay rate of monument stones
and could be achieved by comparing these results with those ob-
tained testing the monument sandstones. Furthermore, these stud-
ies facilitate the selection of appropriate material for restoration or
replacement works in such important monuments of the Tunisian
Heritage.
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