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This study focused on analyzing and calculating the correction factor between direct and indirect methods for the ultrasonic testing of stone monuments using a customized transducer and couplant. To achieve this goal, the P-wave velocity in 11 rock specimens, including two artificially weathered samples, was measured in a laboratory by applying both direct and indirect methods using an ultrasonic tester. Statistical interpretation of the results revealed that the indirect P-wave velocities were always lower than the direct velocities, with the correction factors between them differing by rock type. The average correction factors produced by the indirect method were 1.50 in the medium- to coarse-grained granite sample, 1.37 in fine-grained granite, 1.58 in fine-grained diorite, 1.38 in medium-grained diorite, 1.59 in sandstone, and 1.71 in marble. In addition, the regression equation and coefficient of determination, R 2 were acceptably high, suggesting a sufficient relationship between the two variables for use in engineering. This study will significantly contribute to improving the reliability of ultrasonic testing for weathering evaluation of a stone monument.

Microbial colonization on stone monuments leads to subsequent biodeterioration; determining the microbe diversity, compositions, and metabolic capacities is essential for understanding biodeterioration mechanisms and undertaking heritage management. Here, samples of epilithic biofilm and naturally weathered and exfoliated sandstone particles from different locations at the Beishiku Temple were collected to investigate bacterial and fungal community diversity and structure using a culture-based method. The biodeterioration potential of isolated fungal strains was analyzed in terms of pigmentation, calcite dissolution, organic acids, biomineralization ability, and biocide susceptibility. The results showed that the diversities and communities of bacteria and fungi differed for the different sample types from different locations. The population of culturable microorganisms in biofilm samples was more abundant than that present in the samples exposed to natural weathering. The environmental temperature, relative humidity, and pH were closely related to the variation in and distribution of microbial communities. Fungal biodeterioration tests showed that isolated strains four and five were pigment producers and capable of dissolving carbonates, respectively. Their biomineralization through the precipitation of calcium oxalate and calcite carbonate could be potentially applied as a biotechnology for stone heritage consolidation and the mitigation of weathering for monuments. This study adds to our understanding of culturable microbial communities and the bioprotection potential of fungal biomineralization.

With thousands of years of glorious history and culture, China, which is the origin of Chinese civilization has also survived with a magnificent amount of stone cultural heritage. Stone monuments are one of the most important components of Chinese monuments and contain a wealth of historical information by themselves. Due to the fact that some stone monuments and stone architectural elements are often exposed to the natural environment, they are subject to physical, biological, chemical and human damage over a long period of time, which leads to the formation of various kinds of damages. Therefore, it is an important issue to extract and analysis the diseases information effectively. In this paper, we were going to examine these issues in the context of existing surveying and mapping techniques.

Traces of stone working are an integral part of natural stone objects and artefacts of historical value. Each preserved trace does not only carry a value in determining the type of tool used, but also provides information about the historic stonemason’s work process and technology. For this reason, it is desirable to assess the restoration method’s influence on the change in surface topography. The effect of restoration interventions was investigated on five stone artefacts, three of ‘opuka’, one of sandstone and one of limestone, four of which showed historic working traces. For this purpose, selected restoration methods—chemical, mechanical and laser—were used. The examined artefacts were accurately photogrammetrically captured before and after the restoration interventions in order to assess and evaluate changes in the degree of preservation of the traces. Fine results using common tools were achieved in terms of geometric quality, level of detail and the documentation’s predictive power. The models’ geometric accuracy is in the single tenths of mm, as well as the matching of the two datasets (before and after).

This work presents the methodological approach followed for the study of the interaction of natural stone monuments with the local microclimate (exposure to RH, temperature alterations, wind, marine aerosol). This was implemented with the documentation of the associated weathering phenomena and the study of historic climate data of the area. The paper is focused on the main weathering mechanisms of the marly limestone at the Hellenistic theater of Zea in Piraeus, Greece. Based on the weathering phenomena identified, the development of the appropriate mitigation strategy was based on the physical, chemical and mechanical characterization of the natural stones, along with the evaluation of different conservation treatments, considering the characteristics of the coastal environment. Considering the mineralogy of marly limestones, silane-based materials were selected for providing both consolidation and water repellency effects. The evaluation of the conservation treatments was based on the modification of microstructural and water-related properties of natural stone samples, along with their consequent effect on their durability against accelerated aging tests. The results indicated that the design of migration actions proved to be multivariable parameter, depending on the intrinsic stone properties, the environmental parameters and the conservation efficacy of the treatments.

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition may affect the biodeterioration process of stone monuments through direct and indirect pathways, but relevant studies are lacking. Therefore, taking the biologically colonized rocks around the Leshan Giant Buddha (World Heritage - Mixed Property) as the research objects, we studied the effects of multiple nitrogen addition levels (0, 9, 18, 36, 72 kg N hm-2 a-1; N0, N1; N2 ; N3; N4) on the bacterial community structure and soil nutrients on the surfaces of stones with four biocolonization types, including naked rock (NR), and lichen (LR), bryophyte (BS) and vascular plant (VS) colonization, to investigate the potential effect of atmospheric nitrogen deposition on the rock weathering of the Leshan Giant Buddha. The results demonstrated that nitrogen addition impacted soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients, as well as bacterial community structure and composition, but the responses to nitrogen input varied among different colonization types. Nitrogen fertilization promoted the accumulation of total organic carbon and total nitrogen in NR and LR, and increased the content of total phosphorus in VS. Bacterial α-diversity decreased with nitrogen addition in NR but increased with nitrogen addition in VS. Nitrogen addition significantly (R > 0.9, p < 0.01) changed the bacterial community composition in the four biocolonization types, and the changes were dominated by species replacement (contributed to 60.98%, 76.32%, 67.27% and 72.14% for bacterial diversity in NR, LR, BS and VS, respectively). Total nitrogen, dissolved organic nitrogen, dissolved organic nitrogen and total phosphorus were the most important ecological factors affecting bacterial community structure in NR, LR, BS and VS, respectively. Nitrogen addition enriched different bacterial taxa in the four biocolonization types. The results of this study provide basic data for the protection of stone monuments and the formulation of sustainable development strategies under a changing climate.

Biological recolonization after cleaning remains a major challenge for the conservation of stone cultural heritage. As recolonization can start within months to a few years following intervention, developing rapid, field-deployable diagnostic approaches is crucial to better monitor microbial reappearance and to assess treatment performance in real time. Traditional evaluation methods lack the capacity to take into consideration non-cultivable microorganisms or assess functional traits relevant to recolonization. To bypass this gap, we applied on-site direct Whole-Genome Sequencing (Oxford Nanopore® MinION™ sequencer) coupled with colorimetric analysis to understand the microbiome, resistome, and metabolic traits of subaerial biofilms present in untreated and treated (recolonized) areas of stone statues at the “Largo da Porta Férrea” (Coimbra’s UNESCO World Heritage site). Colorimetric analysis (ΔE of 32–40 in recolonized vs. 19–43 in untreated areas) and genomic data pointed out that the applied treatment provided only a short-term effect (roughly 4–5 years), with a marked decline in fungi (1–2% vs. 7–18%), coupled with an increased recolonization mainly by Cyanobacteriota (circa 35–45%) and several stress-resistant Bacteria (globally ~95% of reads vs. 73–79% in controls). Antimicrobial resistance profiles significantly differed between sites, with treated areas showing distinct and unique resistance genes, and plasmids containing the blaTEM-116 gene, which can indicate potential adaptive shifts in the resistomes profiles after intervention. Metabolic pathways analysis revealed that untreated areas retained more complete nitrogen and sulfur cycling gene sets, whereas treated areas showed reduced biogeochemical gene contents, consistent with earlier-stage recolonization steps. Given the current recolonization detection and the ongoing biofilm formation, routine monitoring efforts (e.g., every 6 months) are recommended. Overall, this study demonstrates the first on-site genomic characterization of recolonization events on heritage stone, providing a practical prompt-warning tool for conservation monitoring and future biofilm management strategies.

PurposeThe paper focuses on an aspect of disaster often overlooked by experts: that of disaster memory both as a prevention tool and one potentially contributing to the resilience of vulnerable communities in Japan. The objective is, more specifically, to explore one specific source of disaster memory in Japan, namely the disaster-related stone monuments scattered throughout the archipelago.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the goals, the authors have studied several types of materials. First, the authors have used the “Natural Disaster Monument” online database compiled by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GIS), data upon which the authors based the field research study, focused on water-related disaster in Otsu city (Shiga Prefecture). Simultaneously, the authors have systematically searched Japanese newspapers since the middle of the 19th century as well as the archives of Shiga prefecture in order to collect additional information on the statistical reality of these monuments, the context of their creation and in order to better estimate the severity of our case studies.FindingsFirst, the findings show that stone monuments are indeed structuring elements of disaster memory in Japan. Not only are they present throughout the archipelago, but in addition, they are still for the most part visited by local communities. Second, the findings show how this material culture of disaster, as a vector of disaster memory, could be used as a tool to better understand and bring awareness to the occurrence of specific hazards, especially to future generations.Originality/valueThe authors promote an interdisciplinary approach by associating anthropology and history. The study offers a new and original character about an object of study relating to both the cultural and historical fields but still often neglected as a tool and object of research in DDR. The authors provide a method and suggest ways to integrate these stone monuments into DDR policies. Finally, the authors propose to better integrate these monuments into the overall reflection on disaster awareness and disaster mitigation.

A variety of Prehistoric dry-stone monuments are ubiquitous in Western Sahara, a region delimited by the boundaries of the former Spanish colony. With either burial or ritual functions, these monuments are spread throughout the Sahara Desert creating sacred landscapes and housing the memory of millennia of occupation. Previous research has explored the role of the sky in various aspects of the life of early inhabitants, such as their religious beliefs or funerary practices. These have been identified by the patterns of location and orientation of these constructions and their relation to particular astronomical events. This work presents a statistical analysis of the orientation of more than 200 prehistoric dry-stone monuments in Western Sahara occupied by Morocco, currently the biggest sample ever studied in this area and the first unique sample obtained in situ. The results show that the orientations follow similar trends observed in other areas of North Africa and the Mediterranean and that they fit with the visibility of particular celestial objects. This provides new insights into the ideas about space, time, and death and the cultural changes and mobility of those peoples and contributes to the preservation of a highly threatened heritage that is immersed in a vast land currently under dispute.

For decades, in historical research, archeological vestiges have been linked with geomancy and cults of the mythical ancestors of a group of the population. This is particularly true in Eastern Asia and especially in China, Korea, and Japan. A fundamental problem of Japanese archeology is that few of the remnants were realized in stone. One of the most important parts of archeological sciences is the study of Necropolises or ancient interments. From the 1970s onwards, in the relatively “new” and promising land of Hokkaido, cemeteries were built with the concept of landscape in mind; this is also due to the lavish vegetation features of this northernmost island of Japan. In the case of the Takino cemetery on the plains of Sapporo, Hokkaido, whose construction began in 1982, solemnity and religiousness were incorporated by producing exact stone replicas of famous funerary landmarks from antiquity as such materials were inexistent in the Nipponese Isles. This trend to grant eternity included traditional Buddhist funereal monuments like the Stupa, Seokguram grotto, and Kamakura sites, but at a certain and exuberant point, under the influence of Isamu Noguchi, it reached Stonehenge in England and the Moai from Easter Island in Polynesia (being after all located in a remote isle of the Pacific Ocean). In this article we will outline such process of generation and overall conception, analyzing the inclusion and architectural assembly of the different compounds and the recent and extraordinary additions projected and built by the celebrity architect Tadao Ando. We expect, in this manner, to facilitate the comprehension of the significance of venerable landscape sublimated through archeology for the Nipponese modern civilization.