Correlation of gravestone decay and air quality 1960–2010

Abstract

Evaluation of spatial and temporal variability in surface recession of lead-lettered Carrara marble gravestones provides a quantitative measure of acid flux to the stone surfaces and is closely related to local land use and air quality. Correlation of stone decay, land use, and air quality for the period after 1960 when reliable estimates of atmospheric pollution are available is evaluated. Gravestone decay and SO2 measurements are interpolated spatially using deterministic and geostatistical techniques. A general lack of spatial correlation was identified and therefore a land-use-based technique for correlation of stone decay and air quality is employed. Decadally averaged stone decay is highly correlated with land use averaged spatially over an optimum radius of 7 km even though air quality, determined by records from the UK monitoring network, is not highly correlated with gravestone decay. The relationships among stone decay, air-quality, and land use is complicated by the relatively low spatial density of both gravestone decay and air quality data and the fact that air quality data is available only as annual averages and therefore seasonal dependence cannot be evaluated. However, acid deposition calculated from gravestone decay suggests that the deposition efficiency of SO2 has increased appreciably since 1980 indicating an increase in the SO2 oxidation process possibly related to reactions with ammonia.

Selectional removal of the harmful gypsum weathering layer on the calcareous stone heritages

“…The microstructure of samples were observed by a scanning electron microscopy (SEM, FEI SIRION-100, 5.0 kV of accelerating voltage and 8.0 mm of working distance). The phase constituent of the samples were detected by an X-ray diffraction (XRD, AXS D8 ADVANCE, scan range 2θ = 10-80°).…”

“…It is a weathering product of calcareous stone under the attack of sulfur oxide pollutants in the air [2] . The formation of gypsum weathering layer is often accompanied with appearance alteration [3] , surface dissolution [4] and structure disruption [5] of the rock relics. The removal of this kind of harmful gypsum layer is thus believed to be necessary [6,7] .…”

Professor Geikie’s 1880 paper, ‘Rock-weathering, as illustrated in Edinburgh Churchyards’, in Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Vol. 10, pages 518–532: Contribution to weathering and cross-disciplinary necrogeography within physical geography

“…Inkpen et al, 2017) have examined the rate of gravestone weathering to trace atmospheric levels of sulphur, finding the highest levels in industrial locations, such as in Swansea compared with Birmingham, Portsmouth, and Oxford, with rural and suburban sites having very low sulphur concentrations. Moreover, the research by Mooers et al (2017) has indicated the increased deposition efficiency of SO 2 on Carrara marble gravestones since 1980 due to oxidation reactions with ammonia. Such chemical reactions involve complex interactions that are seldom conveyed in the contemporary literature, even though rock weathering can be construed as a complex system.…”

“…As with other cultural monuments, including churches, these stone monuments have become part of cultural heritage studies by weathering scientists examining stone decay in burial settings as well as in other settings on a comparative basis in studies of air pollution impacting the conservation of gravestones (e.g. Cooke et al, 1995; Mooers et al, 2017). One of the greatest contributions of such studies has been dates inscribed into headstones that enable the researcher to quantify cross-temporal change at scales up to the centennial in older churchyards.…”

A new method for determining weathering rates in weathering pits

“…Therefore, it is not always possible to measure the surface recession rate in natural rock outcrops (Moses et al, 2014). Therefore, the determination to calculate the rock weathering rates of tombstones or ancient buildings built with rock bricks, and their artificial cutting time, has become the main approach for calculating the weathering rate of rocks on a decadal or centennial time scale (Takahashi et al, 1994;Cooke et al, 1995;Robinson and Williams, 1999;Williams and Robinson, 2000;Johnson et al, 2010;Morgan, 2016;Waragai, 2016;Mooers et al, 2017). In fact, relatively few field observations have been made on the rate at which weathering occurs on natural rock outcrops (Turkington and Paradise, 2005).…”