Pietra Alta
Pietra Alta
Pera Aota (Piedmontese) | |
|---|---|
 The Pietra Alta, in the background Mt.Musinè | |
  Pietra Alta | |
| Coordinates: 45°06′45″N 7°29′44″E / 45.11242°N 7.49547°E | |
| Location | Near Caselette, (TO) |
| Geology | Glacial erratic |
| Native name | Pera Aota (Piedmontese) |
| Elevation | 368 m (1,207 ft) |
The Pietra Alta (in piedmontese: Pera Aota or Peraota,[2][3] meaning High Stone) is a glacial erratic in the comune of Caselette (TO, Italy), relevant for its size and its isolated location.[4]
Features
[edit]
The erratic is a massive boulder with a pyramidal shape,[5] emerging some 10 metres from the ground level and with a circumference of about 50 metres.[6] Its elevation is 368 m.[1] It stands in a woody and almost plain spot close to the border between Caselette and Alpignano,[4] not faraway from the small Lake of Caselette.[1] The place is still of a good environmental quality, although almost encircled by industrial and residential areas.[2]
Geology
[edit]The Pietra Alta belongs to the Morainic amphitheater of Rivoli-Avigliana,[7] and in particular to the moraine left by the Riss glaciation. It was transported to its present location by the hudge glacier which occupied the Susa Valley.[6]
Its height on the ground level, remarkable if compared to other glacial erratics of Piedmont, can be explained because the Pietra Alta, unlikely other boulders mostly covered by the ground, is almost fully exposed.[8] It consists in a huge block of serpentinite[9] with a volume of 2.600 cubic metres.[4] On its surface can be detected rinds similar to the so-called desert varnishes, considered by geologist an indicator of a semi-arid climate.[10]
Uses
[edit]
On the boulder there are a lot of climbing routes,[11] and its sides are equipped with bolts and pitons to protect the climbers. Many of these routes, some of them very engaging, were described at the beginning of the 1980s by the alpinist Gian Carlo Grassi in his book Sassismo spazio per la fantasia: arrampicate sui massi erratici della Valle di Susa.[12] The environment surrounding the Pietra Alta is considered very suggestive;[2] the boulder can be easily reached on foot from Caselette following Via Pietra Alta, a small asphalted lane which continues with a pedestrian dirt road.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c AA.VV. (1965). Torino e Valle d'Aosta. Guida d'Italia (in Italian). Touring club italiano. p. 206. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ a b c "Masso erratico di Pietra Alta Caselette, Torino" (in Italian). Fondo Ambiente Italiano – I Luoghi del Cuore. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ Renzo Rossotti (1994). Piemonte magico e misterioso (in Italian). Newton Compton. p. 119. ISBN 9788879836685. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ a b c Motta, Luigi; Motta, Michele; Ferrero, Osvaldo (2013). Massi erratici singolari – testimonianze glaciali nel paesaggio piemontese (in Italian). Torino: Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali. p. 12. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ "Il territorio della Collina morenica di Rivoli-Avigliana" (in Italian). Pro Natura Torino. 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ a b Petrucci, Franco. Rilevamento geomorfologico dell'anfiteatro morenico di Rivoli-Avigliana (in Italian). p. 107. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ AA.VV. (1922). Bollettino della Società geologica italiana (in Italian). Vol. 41. Società geologica italiana. p. 171. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ AA.VV. (1989). "Scheda 2 – Pietra Alta". Studi piemontesi (in Italian). Vol. 18. Centro studi piemontesi. p. 548. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ Giovanni Visetti. "I massi erratici" (in Italian). www.valdellatorre.it. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ Motta, Michele (2004). Valore ambientale dei massi erratici e valutazione d'impatto ambientale dell'arrampicata (in Italian). p. 4. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ Domenica Biolatto (December 2020). "Editoriale" (PDF). L'Escursionista (in Italian). Unione Escursionisti Torino: 3. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ Pietra Alta (Masso) (in Italian). Gulliver.it. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ "Alla villa romana e ai laghi" (in Italian). Comune di Caselette. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
