Natural stones of the Saale–Unstrut Region (Germany): petrography and weathering phenomena

Rock Features and Alteration of Stone Materials Used for the Built Environment: A Review of Recent Publications on Ageing Tests

“…Some studies have shown the higher susceptibility to salt weathering of more porous limestones [17,35,50], with similar results for granites [28] and for highly porous sandstones [53]. The same trend has been obtained in terms of the effects of acid solutions on limestones [38,44].…”

“…The effects of salt solutions on limestones appear to be potentiated along stratification [53] and the effects of bedding were found to be more marked for coarser portions in sandstones [53] and limestone [74].…”

“…Salt weathering tests with volcanic rocks showed the effects of existing heterogeneities such as structures of preferred orientation and big pumice clasts in ignimbrites [43] and the higher susceptibility of groundmass in trachytes [15] and in tuffs [46,67]. Surface heterogeneities such as stylolites have been considered to increase the susceptibility of limestones to freeze-thaw [16,17,65,78], wet-dry cycles [31] and salt weathering [17], with cracks assumed to be presented before testing also promoting the effects of these decay agents [53]. In trachytes, salt weathering affects fronts with iron oxides and hydroxides [15].…”

Experimental Study on Dynamic Tensile Failure of Sandstone Specimens with Different Water Contents

“…Change of mechanical and physical properties of rocks under the effect of water (besides the dynamic effect of water) is the main cause of structure instability. Water saturation influences physical characteristics of rocks, such as increasing longitudinal wave velocities of rocks [11], swelling clay materials [12], and enhancing thermal conductivity of rocks, leading to variation of mechanical properties of rocks [13]. Erguler and Ulusay [14] found that uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), elastic moduli, and tensile moduli of clay rocks decrease notably as water content increases.…”

Editorial to the topical collection in Environmental Earth Sciences “Stone in the architectural heritage: from quarry to monuments—environment, exploitation, properties and durability”

“…The weathering evolution of stones after centuries of exposure, when the decay is faster than expected, is studied by considering the rock properties and the environmental conditions as well by the implementation of ageing tests. The potential weathering of the stones is mainly governed by the porosity and pore properties that control water transport and salt and ice crystallization (Benavente et al 2018;Sousa et al 2018;Pötzl et al 2018b), often in combination with site-specific conditions (Stück et al 2018). The scaling in magmatic rocks is related to clay phases and phyllosilicates, which cause the swelling and during humidification and drying cycles (Tiennot et al 2018).…”