Temperature and Water Content as Factors in Desert Weathering

Roth, Eldon S.

doi:10.1086/627077

Cited by 52 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Internal temperatures, however, continue to rise for a short period creating conditions in which the subsurface of the rock is warmer than the surface. This has also been found to be the case by Roth (1965), Peel (1974) and Smith (1977).…”

Section: Summary and Conclusion Derived Form The Experimental Worksupporting

confidence: 55%

Lichen hotspots: raised rock temperatures beneath Verrucaria nigrescens on limestone

Carter

Viles

2004

Geomorphology

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Section: Summary and Conclusion Derived Form The Experimental Worksupporting

confidence: 55%

Lichen hotspots: raised rock temperatures beneath Verrucaria nigrescens on limestone

Carter

Viles

2004

Geomorphology

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“…Roth (1965) confi rmed Griggs' (1936) earlier work on the infl uences of temperature but emphasized the importance of sunlight as an overall weathering agent. Later, Smith (1977) established that rock (limestone) temperatures vary greatly with time of year and aspect, a direct infl uence of insolation.…”

Section: Weathering and Aspectmentioning

confidence: 60%

Petra revisited: An examination of sandstone weathering research in Petra, Jordan

Paradise¹

2005

Stone Decay in the Architectural Environment

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Petra, Jordan, was an important crossroads city occupied during the Nabataean and Roman eras. This paper presents a review of a series of studies conducted from 1990 to 2003 that scrutinized both lithologic (intrinsic) and climatic and anthropogenic (extrinsic) weathering infl uences on the Paleozoic sandstones in Petra, an ideal environmental "laboratory" for the study of weathering features, causes, and rates. However, these structures, which have been stable since their creation two thousand years ago, are deteriorating at an accelerated rate due to natural and human-induced stone decay processes.Comprehensive measurements of surface recession were made in Al-Khazneh, Petra's most celebrated tomb; the Roman Theater; and the Anjar Quarry above this abandoned city. Surface recession rates for sandstone in the Roman Theater were determined to range from 15 to 70 mm/k.y. on horizontal surfaces to 10-20 mm/k.y. on vertical surfaces. Higher iron and silica contents of sandstone matrix were found to decrease overall sandstone weatherability, while calcareous matrix components were found to increase deterioration in areas that receive >5500 MJ/m 2 /yr of solar radiation. Moreover, when iron matrix concentrations exceed 4%-5% (by weight), original stonemason dressing marks are still clearly evident, indicating a nearly unweathered state in 2000 yr. Visitors to Petra have dramatically increased from 100,000 (1990) to 350,000 (1998). Large (and typical) tourist groups entering the chamber of Al-Khazneh were found to raise interior relative humidity levels from 20% to 50%, and interior surfaces have dramatically receded due to visitor touching, as much as 40 mm in less than 50-100 yr.

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“…Following a long-established tradition of environmental monitoring in other branches of geomorphology, researchers examined temperature changes experienced by rock surfaces in more detail. Roth (1965) monitored rock surface and subsurface temperatures over 24-h periods and moisture content of the same rock, having split the rock using dynamite; similar monitoring of diurnal temperature ranges on and beneath rock surfaces was conducted by Peel (1974). Rö gner (1987) extrapolated temperature recordings to plot isotherms across tafoni overhangs.…”

Section: Weathering Research In the Twentieth Centurymentioning

confidence: 99%