Approaches to the Study of Salt Weathering of Geological Materials

Abstract

Salt weathering is the main erosive process affecting diverse geological materials in historical and contemporary structures and can also contribute to visual changes by surface crystallization. The main goal of the present paper is to assess publications concerning the study of salt weathering of natural stone considering the main approaches (laboratory tests and field observations). Our focus will be on rock types other than sedimentary carbonate rocks and sandstones (which are the most studied rocks both in laboratory and field studies). Granite and pyroclastic rocks are dominant in the studied set. Also deserves highlighting (for scientific reasons) the scarcity of studies regarding foliated rocks and marble.