A statistical procedure designed to obtain representative size distributions for different morphologies and arrangements of pyrite is described here. This statistical procedure is applied to data acquired during scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution X-ray tomography (micro-CT) analyses. The statistical procedure was tested in methane-derived carbonate pipes recovered in the Gulf of Cadiz. These samples contain abundant pyrite together with pseudomorph iron oxyhydroxides showing multiple morphologies including euhedral crystals, framboids, and sunflowers (framboidal core with outer crystals).
The SEM analysis consisted in the establishment of independent populations of pyrite and iron oxyhydroxides grouped by morphology and arrangement and the determination of its size distributions. Micro-CT analysis included a determination of the 3D volume of pyrite from the density difference between pyrite and the rest of mineral forming the samples. The use of the micro-CT technique implies that minerals with similar attenuation coefficients than those of pyrite are scarce or not present in the studied samples. A filtering process was applied to the 3D volume. This filtering process consisted of the selection of objects with corrected sphericity greater than 0.80, discrete compactness greater than 0.60, elongation and flatness of the circumscribed 3D ellipsoid less than 1.80 and the sum of the elongation and flatness less than 3. Objects with shapes similar to those expected in pyrite (spheroidal and regular shapes) were selected with this filtering process. The optimal mixture of lognormal size distributions was obtained applying statistical techniques to the entire size distribution represented by the filtered objects. The correspondence between size distributions obtained during the SEM and the micro-CT analyses was done by matching statistical parameters and using 3D renderings. The representative size distributions of pyrite as determined by the proposed 3D processing methodology can be used to accurately quantify the paleo-environmental conditions of pyrite formation, which would solve some of the limitations resulting from analyses based on 2D images
Two of the most popular weathering tests used for dimension stone are EN 12371 freeze-thaw (FT) and EN 12370 Salt Crystallization (SC). These tests are used to assign a durability value to the rocks. Both tests are based on the cyclical growth of crystals in the porous system of the rock, which causes structural stress on the rock matrix that may affect its integrity. The weathering mechanism is the same in both tests although the rate of volume increase is higher for the salt crystals. Due to this similarity, the two tests provide complementary information. The EN (European Norms) recommend evaluating the results together, but do not establish correlations between the results of these two tests for different types of rocks. Knowing these relationships would improve the understanding of the results and the response to weathering of the rock once placed in a building. In this work, several ornamental rocks (sandstones, limestones, dolostones, and a travertine) from the Iberian Peninsula were submitted to FT and SC tests. Rocks were mineralogically and petrographically characterized, and their porous systems were defined by a combination of techniques (scanning electronic microscopy, digital images analysis, and mercury porosimetry). The results of the tests were quantified numerically to compare them. The velocity of propagation of ultrasonic waves was measured before and after the tests. After the statistical analysis, significant correlations were found between the FT and SC tests, and between the connected porosity and the durability index of the rocks.
We report here on bioturbation traces, with micro-dendrite textures, composed of a mixture of altered aluminum and polycarbonate, which have been developed in a common compact disk (CD), destroying information pits. Fungal hyphae proliferated in these deteriorated zones, and Geotrichum-type fungus was isolated from surface-sterilized CD fragments. The severe biodeterioration described is attributed to the slow growth of this arthroconidial fungus on the CD material in the tropical indoor environment of Belize, Central America (approximately 30 degrees C, approximately 90% humidity).
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