Siegfried Siegesmund

University of Göttingen | GAUG · Department Structural Geology and Geodynamics

The amethyst and agate geodes from the Los Catalanes Gemmological District in Uruguay represent one of the main deposits of its kind worldwide. The geometry of the deposit is horizontal, with an irregular distribution of amethyst geodes within the upper level of the basalt lava flows and shows strong variations in their abundance, as well as qualit...

Naturstein-Bauwerke aus der Jungsteinzeit vor über 11000 Jahren gehören zur ältesten monumentalen Architektur der Menschheit. Die ägyptischen Pyramiden, die Akropolis in Athen, Pyramiden und Tempel der Maya, die römische Steinkunst und die Burgen und Kirchen des Mittelalters bestehen aus Naturstein. Ohne zu übertreiben lässt sich sagen, dass ein gr...

Collection of pdf of publications by Bernhard Schulz and Co-authors dealing with Geology of the Eastern Alps

Under the umbrella of "building stones", a wide range of research topics are possible. A vast interdisciplinary scientific community provides valuable information that should be considered at several levels. These are the extraction of the stone from the quarry to their application on buildings, and the implementation of conservation measures when...

New whole-rock geochemical and detrital zircon U–Pb and Lu–Hf data of metasedimentary sequences of the Silvretta Nappe, Orobic Alps, Strona-Ceneri Zone, Gotthard Massif and Venediger Nappe are presented. These units seem to share a common early to middle Paleozoic geological record, which has alternatively been interpreted as the result of intrapla...

Volcanic tuffs and sandstones have been used as natural building stones in the construction of monuments and buildings over the millennia of human history. Progressive weathering over time (e.g., temperature fluctuations, moisture uptake, variations in humidity, precipitation, the input of modern-day pollutants or salt crystallization) lead to dama...

The restorative cleaning of natural stones has a special significance for the preservation of important cultural assets or the slowing of their deterioration. Organisms such as fungi, lichens or mosses, but also emission dirt such as soot soften and otherwise damage both the surface and the internal structure of the building stone. In order to quan...

El Terreno Punta del Este (TPE) del Cinturón Dom Feliciano (CDF) presenta un singularregistro geológico y posición, que le confieren crucial importancia en las correlaciones conlos cinturones Gariep (CG) y Kaoko (CK), contrapartes africanas del CDF. En este estudio,nuevos datos U-Pb y Lu-Hf en circón de orto- y paragneises del basamento del TPE y s...

La Fm. Sierra de Aguirre (FSA) conserva un importante registro de la actividad volcánicapost-colisional del Cinturón Dom Feliciano. Depósitos de caída relacionados conchimeneas volcánicas distales actuaron como el principal mecanismo para el relleno de lacuenca, mientras que los flujos piroclásticos y lavas se interpretan como registros deerupcione...

Amethyst and agate geodes hosted in basalt of the Paraná-Etendeka Igneous Province comprise the only world class deposit of the Uruguay being an important export product of the county. However, the forming conditions and the estimation of remaining reserves are still matter of discussion. The origin of the mineralizing fluid has been subject to dif...

The concepts of progressive and polyphase deformation have been widely applied by structural geologists to explain complexly deformed rocks, particularly for ductile conditions. Interpreting complex structural patterns as the result of progressive deformation is mainly based on structural and kinematic evidence, applying the Ockham's razor principl...

Many historically significant buildings and cultural heritage sites are made of volcanic tuffs. These sites are subject to a progressive weathering and are partly in ruinous conditions. Preparing a suitable stone replacement mortar for repair work or even whole replacement stones for these rocks is of great interest. During the quarrying of tuff ro...

Many cultural heritage sites in Mexico have been built with volcanic tuff rocks from the earliest Central American civilizations to the time of the Spanish conquest and up to the present. Throughout this long period of time, the stones have been subjected to progressive weathering as evidenced by different types of damage phenomenon such as scaling...

Some recent models challenge the position and extension of the assumed oceanic basins formed through the break-up of Rodinia, and the tectonic processes involved in the Gondwana assembly, making the investigation of the Early Neoproterozoic record of great relevance. Within the South-American Atlantic margin, the Punta del Este Terrane (PET) of the...

Natural building stones must be analyzed according to a legally defined procedure to prove that the natural radioactivity they emit is below the so-called activity index given by European Commission. This applies in particular to rooms inside buildings or apartments that are used by people for longer periods of time. Gamma spectrometric measurement...

Small churches in rural villages are mainly functional buildings, lacking spectacular architectural or ornamental features.. This is also true for the St. Johannis Chapel Lütgenrode near Göttingen (Lower Saxony, Germany), which dates back to the 13th century. The use of ca. 10 different natural building stones (Triassic sandstone and limestone, Hol...

Abstract New whole-rock geochemical and coupled U–Pb and Lu–Hf LA-ICP-MS zircon data of metasedimentary rocks of the Austroalpine, South Alpine and Penninic basement domains are presented, to disentangle the pre-Variscan tectonic evolution of the proto-Alps. The studied units seem to record distinct stages of protracted Late Ediacaran to Carbonifer...

Siegfried Siegesmund (Hg.) Armenien ist die erste christliche Nation. Sie hat ein bedeutendes Schrifttum und eine eigenständige Architektur hervorgebracht. Die ältesten Kirchen stammen aus dem 4. Jahrhundert und auch in den entlegensten Bergregionen finden sich Klöster. Diese mittelalter-lichen Akademien erklären den hohen Stellenwert und die lange...

Siegfried Siegesmund (Hg.) Armenien ist die erste christliche Nation. Sie hat ein bedeutendes Schrifttum und eine eigenständige Architektur hervorgebracht. Die ältesten Kirchen stammen aus dem 4. Jahrhundert und auch in den entlegensten Bergregionen finden sich Klöster. Diese mittelalter-lichen Akademien erklären den hohen Stellenwert und die lange...

Coupled U–Pb and Lu–Hf LA-ICP-MS detrital and igneous zircon data were obtained from metasedimentary sequences (Kaserer Formation, Schmirntal Quartzite, Seidlwinkel Formation, Bündnerschiefer Basin, Riffler Basin) of the western Tauern Window (Eastern Alps). Results show maximum deposition ages between the Late Permian and the Triassic, indicating...

IINTRODUCTION: In Uruguay, Neoproterozoic basins related to the post-collisional stage of the Dom Feliciano Belt have been studied in different levels of detail. Several aspects like the timing of opening and filling, the geometry and the source areas, as well as the relationship with other geological processes still remain controversial. Between t...

INTRODUCTION: The Punta del Este Terrane is an enigmatic piece within the evolution of southwest Gondwana, and the ambiguities regarding its crustal signature allowed correlations of this block with adjacent and dissimilar domains. The Neoproterozoic pre-Ediacaran evolution of the terrane is marked by two main episodes: a large tonalitic-granodiori...

The Punta del Este Terrane is an enigmatic piece within the evolution of southwest Gondwana, and the ambiguities regarding its crustal signature allowed correlations of this block with adjacent and dissimilar domains. The Neoproterozoic pre-Ediacaran evolution of the terrane is marked by two main episodes: a large tonalitic-granodioritic Tonian mag...

In Uruguay, Neoproterozoic basins related to the post-collisional stage of the Dom Feliciano Belt have been studied in different levels of detail. Several aspects like the timing of opening and filling , the geometry and the source areas, as well as the relationship with other geological processes still remain controversial. Between them, the Sierr...

The steadily increasing demand on the natural stone market is accompanied by a predominantly poor economic balance in the extraction of the raw material "ornamental stone". Thus, the net production of raw blocks is far too low in relation to the resulting overburden, which is often the result of insufficient geoscientific input and evaluation of th...

Armenien ist die erste christliche Nation. Sie hat ein bedeutendes Schrifttum und eine eigenständige Architektur hervorgebracht. Die ältesten Kirchen stammen aus dem 4. Jahrhundert und auch in den entlegensten Bergregionen finden sich Klöster. Diese mittelalter-lichen Akademien erklären den hohen Stellenwert und die lange Tradition der Bildung. Arm...

The amalgamation of southwestern Gondwana during the late Neoproterozoic Brasiliano/Pan-African orogenic cycle involved the tectonic interaction of the Congo, Kalahari and Rio de la Plata cratons, together with numerous smaller basement fragments scattered throughout South America. A comprehensive review of U-Pb and Lu-Hf spot analyses in zircon pr...

The production of building stones shown an exponential growth in last decades as consequences of the demand and developments in the extraction and processing techniques. From the several conditioning factors affecting this industry, the geological constrains at quarry scale stands out as one of most important. The globalization and competitiveness...

In this study, nine volcanic tuffs from Armenia, Germany and Mexico were treated with two commercially available consolidants on base of silicic acid ester, as well as different pretreatments with an anti-swelling agent and/or primer components. Prior to the treatment, the tuffs were analyzed regarding their petrography and mineralogy, with a great...

Volcanic tuffs naturally show a strong heterogeneity in their petrography and petrophysical properties. The arrangement of the components in tuffs can create a very wide spectrum of porosities and fabrics, which in turn can lead to a highly differential weathering behavior. Considerable amounts of clay minerals and zeolites are common, and can cont...

Limestones have wide variety, namely by differences in the process of formation, mineralogical composition, grain size and texture. Such variability leads to differences in weathering characteristics and behaviour under different environmental conditions and applications. Therefore, detailed studies are mandatory to assess the main factors controll...

Volcanic tuffs naturally show a strong heterogeneity in their petrography and petrophysical properties. The arrangement of the components in tuffs can create a very wide spectrum of porosities and fabrics, which in turn can lead to a highly differential weathering behavior. Considerable amounts of clay minerals and zeolites are common, and can cont...

Southern South America hosts a vast geologic record of Precambrian to Paleozoic geodynamic and tectonic processes, particularly related to the assembly and crustal growth of Western Gondwana (Fig. 1). The largest cratonic block is represented by the Paleoproterozoic Río de la Plata Craton, though further crustal blocks of mainly Archean to Paleopro...

The steadily increasing demand on the natural stone market is accompanied by a predominantly poor economic balance in the extraction of the raw material "ornamental stone". Thus, the net production of raw blocks is far too low in relation to the resulting overburden, which is often the result of insufficient geoscientific input and evaluation of th...

Marble as ornamental and dimensional stones as well as in their natural environments show complex weathering phenomena. Physical, chemical, and biological weathering of marble are well documented. The impact of climate change on monuments and historic buildings in terms of modeling and predicting future scenarios requires new approaches to forecast...

New whole-rock geochemical and coupled U–Pb and Lu–Hf LA-ICP-MS zircon data of metasedimentary rocks of the Austroalpine, South Alpine and Penninic basement domains are presented, to disentangle the pre-Variscan tectonic evolution of the proto-Alps. The studied units seem to record distinct stages of protracted Late Ediacaran to Carboniferous tecto...

In the present study, 5 different consolidants were tested on 5 different marble varieties preliminarily subjected to artificial weathering, to evaluate their consolidating effectiveness and thermal behavior after consolidation, in terms of residual strain after heating–cooling cycles in dry and wet condition and tendency to bowing. Treatments base...

The present editorial 2020 continues the series of status reports in Environmental Earth Sciences (EES) in previous years 2017 and 2019 (Kolditz et al. in Environ Earth Sci 77: 8, 2018, Kolditz et al. in Environ Earth Sci 79: 11, 2020). The year 2020 coming to an end was heavily influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic affecting all areas of life includ...

New isotopic and geochemical data for the Paleo- Meso- and Neoproterozoic metasedimentary cover of the southern Dom Feliciano Belt (Brasiliano/Pan-African) are presented and evaluated combined with published information. Whole-rock major and trace element geochemistry indicates that the dominant source for all the units was the upper continental cr...

The Sierra de Aguirre Fm. in southern Uruguay constitutes one of several post-collisional basins of the Dom Feliciano Belt, preserving an important volcanic record associated with this protracted stage of the orogenic system. This study combines new stratigraphic, structural, geochronological and isotopic geochemical results, together with a reasse...

The HAP4MARBLE project was funded by the European Commission within the call H2020-MSCA-IF-2014 of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (Grant Agreement n. 655239). The goal of the project was to develop an innovative conservation treatment for marble artworks exposed outdoors, which suffer from several deterioration processes predicted to be worsene...

The Conlara Metamorphic Complex, the easternmost complex of the Sierra de San Luis, is a key unit to understand the relationship between the late Proterozoic-Early Cambrian Pampean and the Upper Cambrian-Middle Ordovician Famatinian orogenies of the Eastern Sierras Pampeanas. The Conlara Metamorphic Complex extends to the east to the foothills of t...

Argon geochronology of white mica has a good potential of recording recurrent dynamic recrystallization in shear zones in the transition from ductile to brittle deformation, as temperature ranges for mineral crystallization and isotopic closure of different grain-size fractions overlap between ca. 275–425 °C. This study presents over 40 K-Ar ages o...

Since ancient times, the decay of natural stones used in historical monuments, masonry, sculptures etc. is a well-known phenomenon. The 14th International Congress entitled MONUMENT FUTURE: DECAY AND CONSERVATION OF STONE combines the world-wide community of scientists, architects, engineers, conservators, monument curators and building owners acti...

The Zvartnots cathedral is build from basalts and tuffs and was constructed in the 7th century. Since the year 2000 it has been a part of the UNESCO World Heritage list. The Avan cathedral even is older and was build in the 6th century, mainly from tuff as well. Both monuments are now handed down as ruins and have been restored several times. For t...

The pre-Columbian astronomical and meteorolog- ical observatory of El Infiernito or ‘Little Hell’ is situated within the Monquirá Archaeological Park, near the colonial town of Villa de Leyva in the Co- lombian Boyacá-Department. Several burial mounds and a variety of phallic-shaped monoliths, made of local sandstone, bear witness to the culture an...

Early Paleozoic accretionary orogens dominated the Western Gondwana margin and were characterized by nearly continuous subduction associated with crustal extension and back-arc basin development. The southwestern margin is represented by Famatinian and Pampean basement realms exposed in South America, both related to the protracted Paleozoic evolut...

After almost 200 years of exposure, the monuments of General Scharnhorst and Bülow have been analysed by means of ultrasound. Both sculptures are made of Carrara marble, both sculptures have been exposed to the same environmental influences and both sculptures are, based on the results of the ultrasonic measurements, in alarming conditions. This st...

The southeastern coast of South America is an example of the complexity of passive continental margins, as it displays both high- and low-elevation segments despite sharing a similar pre-rift geological history and structural configuration. As such, it is a prime candidate for investigating debated questions concerning the evolution of passive marg...

Accretionary orogens have been largely recognized along the Western Gondwana (i.e., Africa and South America) margin during the entire Paleozoic. In the case of southwestern Gondwana, Paleozoic subduction along the proto-Pacific margin gave rise to the Terra Australis Orogen, which is well-recorded in southwestern South America and southernmost Afr...