Marble Gravestones Weathering

Quartzite also has a pattern similar to marble which is why many choose marble over granite even though marble doesn t last as long.

Marble gravestones weathering.

Weathering processes depend upon the pres ence of water the temperature the mineral composition of the rock and its chemical com position. Weathering processes on headstones and monuments alison tymon march 2012 weathering is defined as the breakdown of rock in situ that is without being moved. Gravestones made from sandstone are easier to carve than a harder material but this also means they often exhibit poor weathering resilience resulting in lamination or exfoliation causing large portions of the stone to fall off blistering of the stone surface discolouration due to soot or a reaction between sulphur dioxide and calcium. The form of weathering observed on gravestones is a product of four interconnected factors and how they vary both spatially and temporally i e in space and time.

Most studies assume that differences in the linear regression equations between sites represent differences in the influence of different pollution histories. Following the idea that marble gravestones would weather mainly by dissolution it is thought that weathering loss would be linear. Nevertheless for some families marble is still the stone of choice because of its natural beauty. It is customary to associated particular types of gravestones or environments with particular weathering processes.

Physical weathering is the toll put on rocks by. Gravestones and monuments are generally custom fabricated out of large stones. Headstones are subjected to weath. One project is using gravestones to better understand how the elements particularly acid rain are weathering rocks around.

Are barely legible because acid rain created by factory pollution has dissolved a lot of the calcite in the limestone and marble gravestones. To a geologist a gravestone can offer information other rocks can t. Marble gravestones for example are expected or rather assumed to decay mainly by dissolution by acidic rainfall remembering that natural rainfall is slightly acidic anyway being a weak carbonic acid with a ph of 5 6. How to clean marble headstones.

They are both very similar in a lot of ways. But for the most part quartzite is harder and denser since it is made of quartz is much more resistant to chemical physical weathering. The four factors are. Others are weathering or semi weathering meaning they will change color usually to shades of brown when used.