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Editorial to the topical collection "Building stones and geomaterials through history and environments: from quarry to heritage. Insights on the conditioning factors -The Rolf Snethlage-Volume"

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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 necessary. The present special issue contains 44 articles on the research into natural building stones. The editorial intention is to present the main highlights of each paper, which are grouped into the following sections in order to better understand the overall content: Quarrying, Physical-Mechanical Properties, Heritage and Weathering, Restoration and Techniques, Miscellaneous. This volume is dedicated to the memory of Professor Rolf Snethlage. The international community of applied geosciences has lost an important researcher and teacher. Therefore, a brief description of importance of the research carried out by Rolf Snethlage is presented at the end of the Editorial.
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Vol.:(0123456789)
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Environmental Earth Sciences (2023) 82:415
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-023-11095-8
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Editorial tothetopical collection “Building stones andgeomaterials
throughhistory andenvironments: fromquarry toheritage. Insights
ontheconditioning factors ‑ The Rolf Snethlage‑Volume”
SiegfriedSiegesmund1,2· LuísSousa3,4· RubénLópez‑Doncel5
Received: 14 June 2023 / Accepted: 5 August 2023 / Published online: 21 August 2023
© The Author(s) 2023
Abstract
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 necessary. The
present special issue contains 44 articles on the research into natural building stones. The editorial intention is to present
the main highlights of each paper, which are grouped into the following sections in order to better understand the overall
content: Quarrying, Physical–Mechanical Properties, Heritage and Weathering, Restoration and Techniques, Miscellaneous.
This volume is dedicated to the memory of Professor Rolf Snethlage. The international community of applied geosciences
has lost an important researcher and teacher. Therefore, a brief description of importance of the research carried out by Rolf
Snethlage is presented at the end of the Editorial.
Keywords Stone exploration· Quarrying· Stone decay· Physical mechanical peoperties· Heritage and weathering·
Restoration approches· Rolf Snethlage Volume
Introduction
Today, there are fewer and fewer buildings, structures, or
monuments that are built with natural rocks, materials such
as cement, bricks, and even synthetic materials have been
replacing them. However, past human history shows that this
was not always the case. The oldest evidence of hominids
using stone tools goes back around one million years. This
continued with the first groups of nomadic hunter-gatherers
using natural rocks to make their sophisticated hunting tools,
and furthermore, using natural rock formations as shelters.
Since the first sedentary settlements, humans built their
spiritual and ceremonial centers, worship centers, temples,
churches, and even dwellings using the most accessible
material, i.e., natural stones. Over time, the techniques of
extraction, transportation, carving, and reworking of the rock
were perfected to the point of erecting impressive buildings,
monuments, and even entire cities all with natural rocks.
Fortunately, for many of us today, large numbers are still
standing to be admired and appreciated and are now consid-
ered part of all of humanity’s cultural heritage.
Building stones are available everywhere and their varie-
ties are related to the geological setting. These stones can be
purchased at a low price and are environmentally friendly.
Therefore, their extraction and application will probably
continue to show a high rate of growth. Several condition-
ing factors need to be considered during the assessment
of this important economic activity. These are the quarry-
ing, the processing of the dimensional stones, their appli-
cation, which also includes environmental constrains and
weathering.
* Siegfried Siegesmund
ssieges@gwdg.de
1 Department Structural Geology andGeodynamics,
Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum der Universität Göttingen,
Göttingen, Germany
2 Natursteinberatung & Begutachtung Prof. Siegesmund,
Göttingen, Germany
3 Geology Department, University ofTrás-os-Montes e Alto
Douro, VilaReal, Portugal
4 Geosciences Center (CGEO), University ofCoimbra,
Coimbra, Portugal
5 Instituto de Geología, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis
Potosí, SanLuisPotosí, Mexico
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The natural fracturing of the rock mass controls how the
stone is extracted from the quarry. Previous evaluations
before the opening of a quarry are crucial for maximizing
the yield and minimizing the impact to the environment. To
increase the productivity of the quarry, the technical staff
need to maintain updated information about the main joint
sets and their distribution in newly exposed quarry walls.
New techniques of acquiring information and software
programs are powerful tools with increasing utilization by
the quarry owners and operators. The use of aerial photos
together with the modeling of the joint sets will become
more frequent in the coming years.
Physical and mechanical properties are one of the most
important factors to be considered in the building stone
industry. The color and texture are still the main control-
ling factors for the choice of a building stone, whereas the
requirements for the physical and mechanical properties
established by international standards should be given more
weight. There are no inferior building stones, but flawed
utilizations, when not taking the set of physical–mechanical
properties of a specific stone into account. Different rock
types have a wide range of properties, which need to be
taken into account when utilizing natural stones. Know-
ing the physical and mechanical properties will allow one
to choose the best material for a specific utilization and to
define the type of maintenance required through time.
Environmental factors will act on the natural stone miner-
als, once the stone has been applied to a specific structure,
e.g., a building façade or monument, etc., which leads to
a possible degradation. Durability studies should be per-
formed to assess the stone’s behavior under the action of
water, salt and ice, the most aggressive elements affecting
the composition of a stone. When necessary protective or
conservation measures need to be implemented, especially
in highly porous materials used in historical buildings or
monuments.
It is important and necessary to protect, care for and con-
serve the constructions, structures, and historical buildings
that are part of humanity’s cultural heritage, which different
cultures have left us at different times in history and under
different environmental conditions. Once a building has been
built, it will be exposed to physical and chemical deteriora-
tion agents that can damage the structure to different degrees
under different rates of weathering. All these factors must
be studied and analyzed not only to know why and how this
happens, but also to know how to lessen and control them,
and if necessary, how to restore and conserve them. To do
this, it is essential to understand all the processes that are
required, starting from the extraction in a quarry, processing,
and eventually becoming a cultural heritage construction.
The present special issue contains current articles on the
research into natural building stones. In the following sec-
tions, a summary of the 44 papers is presented.
Quarrying
Joint set geometry and density are key parameters in quar-
rying yield, since this regulates the volume and shape of
the natural blocks. Modern processing technologies demand
large unfractured blocks, up to ten cubic meters that can be
further dimensioned into various sized blocks.
Bogdanowitsch etal. (2022) used information both
collected in the field and from unmanned aerial vehicles,
namely, digital surface models, orthophotos, and three-
dimensional models to assess the fracturing in quarries of
21 quarries of granite, limestone, marble, and slate from
Portugal. Modelling the fracturing in quarry fronts with
software programs such as 3D-BlockExpert helps in quarry
management, by modelling the trend of joint surfaces and
computing the shape and volume of the in-situ blocks and
the quarry yield. Furthermore, the effect of changing the
cutting direction by a small shift in the cutting angle can
improve the number and volume of the final blocks.
Profitable dimensional stone production mainly depends
on the effective number of extracted blocks with a predefined
size. The regularity and volume of the blocks are of critical
importance. Schneider-Löbens etal. (2022) applied a joint
analysis as an important tool for optimizing block extraction
of natural stones. For the optimal use of a deposit and a sus-
tainable protection of resources, a detailed evaluation of the
deposit including assessment of geological characteristics is
necessary. Regarding deposits of natural building stones, in
many cases, however, there is a lack of sufficient geological
assessment that meets the necessary requirements for such
an evaluation. 3D-BlockExpert computer code provides a
forward-looking approach for sustainable quarry manage-
ment using the fracture spacing and fracture orientation. A
large number of investigations were carried out in quarry
areas with different lithologies in Germany and Spain, such
as sandstones, limestones, slates and granites.
Physical–mechanical properties
Building stones should meet the required standards to sup-
port the mechanical actions when used for different appli-
cations. Furthermore, the physical–mechanical properties
regulate the rate of degradation under severe environmental
conditions. The previous evaluation of the building stone
behavior is a key factor in avoiding further degradations
beyond those related to the natural weathering process that
affects all materials.
Two research studies are presented that investigate the
physical–mechanical properties in carbonate rocks. Salvini
etal. (2023) utilize 11 different carbonate rocks to analyze
them according to their texture and durability. These rocks
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were measured by accelerated aging tests which reproduced
freeze–thaw and salt crystallization cycles. Eleven lime-
stones from different locations in Portugal were also sub-
jected to different tests and analyses, including the descrip-
tion of their mineralogical composition, grain size, and
texture, as well as their bowing behavior to assess the main
factors that control their physical–mechanical properties and
durability (Sousa etal. 2021). The results from both research
studies show that the texture and porosity of carbonates play
a major role in their deterioration rate.
The study of nine granites from Pakistan highlights the
importance of textural and petrographic features for the
assessment of stone behavior (Ahmed etal. 2021). The
strength properties of the granites are related to texture,
quartz percentage, mineralogy and alteration of minerals,
volume of void spaces, the occurrence of micro-fractures
and grain size.
The presence of clay minerals can affect the properties of
the building stones, as pointed out by Pires etal. (2022) in a
limestone. In contact with water or moisture, alterations in
color, increased fracturing, and swelling, which leads to the
loss of material are common typical degradation patterns,
especially when stratification and stylolites are parallel to
the surface of the slabs. This study highlights the importance
of proper stone selection to avoid facade degradation, and
hence contributes to the prevention of accidents and promote
user safety as well as economic aspects.
Domingos etal. (2021) simultaneously measured the
222Rn and 220Rn exhaled per unit mass and emanation
coefficient in granitic rock samples collected in the Central
Iberian Zone and shows that it is possible to identify a priori
the areas with higher potential of radiation exposure. Deal-
ing with the same topic, Siegesmund etal. (2022a) selected
82 building stones covering a wide range regarding the
mineralogy and the geological background to measure their
radioactivity and calculate the resulting annual equivalent
doses and radon exhalation values. The activity concentra-
tion of radon, thorium and potassium, A226Ra, A232Th and
A40K, for most of the samples, is below the upper limits
of normal activities (A226Ra and A232Th < 100Bq kg−1and
A40K < 1000Bq kg−1) for construction materials (European
Commission 1999). The felsic rocks show the highest exha-
lation rates for both 222Rn and 220Rn, followed by metamor-
phic rocks, while the mafic rocks, limestones and travertines
have the lowest values. In some cases, like a small and poor
ventilated room covered by thick tiles, the modelling of the
annual equivalent dose rates and radon exposure can reach
the maximum values. The values obtained characterize unre-
alistic cases, but allows one to have an idea about the pos-
sible harmful use of the building material. Both consumers,
producers and market organizations should be aware of this
new challenge.
Çetintaş etal. (2023) investigated the variations in capil-
lary water absorption and porosity of some limestones dur-
ing the ongoing weathering process under salt action and
air pollutants. They discuss an assessment of the effects that
salt crystallization and the reaction of air pollutants (SO2,
NO2) with moist or wet rock surfaces have on the poros-
ity and pore radii distributions of selected limestones. The
physical-mechanical of the stones are influenced by the
environmental conditions. Ye etal. (2002) studied the creep
behavior of sandstone under saturated and dry conditions
under different driving stress ratio. They found that under an
identical driving stress ratio, the dry specimens' creep strain
and steady-state creep rate are relatively higher than those
of the saturated ones. Furthermore, a method for predicting
the time-to-failure based on short-term creep test results is
proposed.
The correlation of different surface hardness values with
the rock’s compressive strength (UCS) is a very impor-
tant value that has been studied by Gireson etal. (2023).
They found a decrease at various rates under the effect of
freeze–thaw (FT) cycles. However, the proposed equation of
carbonate building stones in practical engineering applica-
tions needs to be further elaborated upon.
Valido etal.’s (2023a) study an ignimbrite from island of
Tenerife (Spain) exploited as natural stone with four chro-
matic varieties. They found that the properties vary depend-
ing on the depth of the stratigraphic volcanic level, a high
degree of correlation between the physical properties and a
significant impact of the petrographic characteristics.
The physical–mechanical and durability was assessed in
two varieties of the same type of rock from Arucas (Gran
Canaria Island) (Valido etal. 2023b). The porosity stands
out as the property with the higher difference, influencing
the durability of the stones and, therefore, the possible utili-
zations. In the Canary archipelago, only nine building stones
are extracted, distributed in three islands. This research
intends to be a step towards the recognition of the social
and economic importance connected to quarry activity and
a contribution to the designation of “Piedra Chasnera” as a
Global Heritage Stone Resource (GHSR).
Through all cultures and epochs worldwide, tuffs have
been used as construction material for the creation of build-
ings, artworks and sculptures (Pötzl etal. 2022b). As popu-
lar as the material is, however, it is often very sensitive to
weathering, and the reasons for their fast deterioration are
manifold and have been the subject of many studies. Pötzl
etal. (2022b) identified key parameters that may be use-
ful in the estimation of the strength and durability of tuffs
by analyzing a data set of more than 500 samples from the
literature. Fifteen selected tuffs were investigated in more
detail. Tuffs exhibit a great mineralogical and fabric hetero-
geneity, and along with this heterogeneity, they show a wide
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range of technical parameters and responses to weathering.
Especially, the porosity, water absorption, and hydric expan-
sion can exceed values multiple times higher than other rock
types.
Microcracks, grain-boundary cracks or intracrystalline
cracks control, among other things, the weathering behavior
of crystalline marbles (Siegesmund etal. 2021, 2022a, b, c).
The extreme anisotropy of thermal dilatation of calcite (sub-
ordinately also dolomite) and the resulting buildup of ther-
mal stresses are probably primary causes of marble weath-
ering. These lead to the build-up of tensile, compressive or
shear stresses when the temperature increases, depending
on the crystallographic directional relationships between
neighboring grains, which presumably lead primarily to the
opening of grain boundaries. Ultrasonic wave velocities are
a powerful and sensitive tool for the damage assessment of
marble. Ongoing experimental alteration approaches were
used to document the state of deterioration using Vp-sys-
tematics. In addition, thermal expansion and the residual
strain values after applying thermal impacts were used to
introduce a new quantitative measure based on experimen-
tal length changes and volume changes. To quantify such
volume changes, a so-called quantitative decay index for
marbles was proposed.
To identify the primary cause of the moisture expansion
due to swelling, swelling experiments were performed and
discussed with respect to the mineralogical composition, the
rock fabrics and additional petrophysical properties (Sieges-
mund etal. 2023). Clay minerals and zeolites that expand
due to the influence of a high relative humidity or uptake of
moisture play a significant and decisive role in the damage
and deterioration of natural stones, such as volcanic tuffs and
sandstones. These factors are of crucial importance, because
the investigated hydric swelling processes are, as far as is
known, either caused by intracrystalline swelling clay min-
erals or a cleavage pressure triggered by the interaction of
surface forces at high micropore fractions in the nanometer
range (Siegesmund etal. 2023).
Swelling clay minerals are of interest for diverse areas
of geotechnical engineering, in particular, the stability of
slopes, foundations, tunnels, and boreholes (Wangler 2023).
They are of particular interest as well in the field of con-
servation of built cultural heritage, as they often appear in
the matrix of sandstones and other stones used in historical
buildings and monuments, where wetting and drying cycles
can lead to damage. Wangler (2023) discusses the potential
damage mechanism in the Swiss molasse sandstone. The
Molasse de Villarlod is a fine-to-medium-grained Miocene
sandstone that occurs in three different varieties. There are
some implications of this work for the conservation of built
cultural heritage constructed with Villarlod molasse, primar-
ily when it comes to understanding and mitigating the swell-
ing behavior. The fact that the swelling is predominantly
crystalline points again to treatment strategies that target
this, such as ion exchange with species that induce lower
swelling. For an ongoing discussion on the Villarlod sand-
stone, the reader is also referred to Siegesmund etal. (2023).
Damages due to fire occurred on many monuments and
affected building sandstones (Franzen etal. 2022). Cotta-
type sandstone is a variety of Elbe sandstone that has been
widely used over centuries, preferably for sculptures and
ornamental decoration on façades like the ashlars in massive
stonework for the baroque Dresden Zwinger (Germany). The
results are useful hints for understanding the processes run-
ning at the grain size scale in clay-bearing sandstones during
heating to elevated temperatures. This might help to better
assess and understand mechanical properties of sandstone
surfaces that were affected by fire attack. The remnant com-
pressive strengths of parts of a massive sandstone building
after fire incidents are crucial for planning restoration and
reconstruction measures.
Abrasion is an important test method for assessing the
suitability of rock materials used as natural stone. Kolg-
itti and Çelik (2022) propose the use of the Wide Wheel
Abrasion test on core samples and half-cut core samples,
because the values obtained are useful for estimating the
rock material properties as in the uniaxial compressive
strength. Moreover, Sari and Yavuz (2023) propose a new
empirical equation to predict the abrasion resistance of fresh
and after freeze–thaw tests of limestones based on the basic
material properties without performing Böhme abrasion and
freeze–thaw tests. The results showed that Böhme abrasion
values of fresh limestones and those which were treated dur-
ing freeze–thaw tests can be reliably predicted. However,
studies should be carried out on more diverse limestone
types and different natural stone types to improve and evalu-
ate the obtained results.
Heritage andweathering
Natural rocks and other geomaterials can be used collec-
tively for architectural works, i.e., that show specific fea-
tures: the color, its sculpturing, the architectural style,
origin and its history. Heritage buildings are composed of
individual stone elements, which have specific mineralogi-
cal characteristics, structures, fabrics, etc. and these are the
parameters that make the rock susceptible to deterioration.
Moreover, the rock parameters have a significant control on
the conservation strategies.
Many regional examples of the geological–geochemical,
lithological, and geomechanical properties of heritage rocks,
as well as examples of possible alternative rocks for resto-
ration are presented in the topical collection. Examples of
these are the dacite, trachydacite, and trachyandesite of the
Binbir Church in the Karaman province of Turkey (Horasan
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etal. 2022), the restoration works, and the search for pos-
sible alternative rocks for the Hong Nang Temple Sida in
Lao PDR, which was built with sandstone and siltstone (Park
etal. 2021), the documentation and structural analysis of the
water supply canal system of Dezful city in Iran utilizing a
three-dimensional model based on multi-image photogram-
metry (Attarian etal. (2022), or the study of the provenance
of the conglomerate and sandstone ashlars used in the con-
struction of the Lyrbe city in Antalya, Turkey (Aksoy etal.
2021).
Examples of volcanic tuffs used as construction rock in
heritage buildings are those describing the material charac-
teristics of a deteriorated five-story stone pagoda and were
compared with those of fresh rocks from its quarrying site
in Korea (Jo and Lee 2022). Similar lithology (a porous and
soft acid tuff from Japan) was investigated, where the vol-
canic tuff appears extensively affected by the efflorescence
of gypsum, mirabilite, and thenardite, whose development
depends on the stone–environment interaction (Germinario
and Oguchi 2022).
Non-destructive techniques are excellent tools to be
applied when historical buildings are studied. Orenday-
Tapia etal. (2021) found a close relation between the veloc-
ity propagation of seismic waves and the density of the
masonry in historical buildings. Chabas etal. (2022) used
a combination of low-to-non-invasive methods associating
microclimatic measurements, mineralogical, petrophysical,
chemical and isotopic analyses to determine the composition
and the source of salts in a restored dovecote. The results
show that efflorescences are derived from organic nitrogen.
The classic Elbe sandstones, such as the Cotta sand-
stone, the Posta sandstone and the Reinhardtsdorfer sand-
stone, which have been extracted specifically for build-
ing purposes in Saxony (Germany) since the thirteenth
century, are not missing in the literature on dimensional
stones. The Pläner (Lehr 2022), however, is often over-
looked not only in Saxony. According to Lehr (2022),
Pläner in the petrographic sense are sandy–marly silt-
stones, sandy–silty marlstones, silicified marlstones and
marly silicites. They are characterized by cyclically depos-
ited sediments in large areas of the Bohemian–Saxonian
and Münsterland Cretaceous Basins. The aim of this paper
is to illustrate the similarities and differences of the Pläner
stones used as a building material from the Cretaceous
basins considered here. Four different types of Pläners
can be classified based on their primary facies and early
diagenetic characteristics, but also the limestones that are
called Pläners, which occur within the Pläner sequences
and the residuals of these Pläners are considered. The his-
torically dominant stone of Prague is the “Golden Pläner”
(zlatá opuka). It owes its name to the warm reddish-yellow
coloration.
Small historical churches in rural villages like St. Johan-
nis Chapel Lütgenrode near Goettingen (Lower Saxony,
Germany), which dates to the thirteenth century, are mainly
functional buildings, lacking spectacular architectural or
ornamental features (Siegesmund etal. 2022c). Of the ten
stratigraphic intervals with natural building stones listed in
the above work of the Goettingen area, nine can be found
in the walls of the Lütgenrode Chapel. In addition, two
fragments of marine lower Jurassic siltstones occur exclu-
sively here. Based on detailed mapping of the lithology and
decay features the most important rock types were sampled
as far as possible from old, abandoned quarries and then
investigated with respect to important material parameters.
Furthermore, onsite investigations on strength and water
absorption were carried out. According to existing estimates,
approximately 550,000 EUR will be necessary for the com-
plete repair work. The largest share will be for the restora-
tion of the south facade and the interior, where the greatest
damage prevails. The emergency protection on the south
side will stop the collapse of the already extremely warped
facade for a few more years.
Siegesmund etal. (2022b) investigated a collection of 53
tuffs from different regions in Mexico that show a diverse
range of colors, rock compositions and mineralogy, and
heterogeneous rock fabrics indicative of their volcanic ori-
gin. Volcanic rocks have been used, since the first cultures
appeared in Mesoamerica. As designated by UNESCO,
Mexico is one of the countries with the largest number of
world heritage sites. Of these sites, the vast majority are
constructions consisting of pyramids, colonial churches, or
historical buildings, which were erected with natural stones.
The stones used for the construction of these buildings were
mostly rocks from the surroundings, so their lithology is
dependent on the geology of each site. The results of the
quality assessment on the tuffs from Mexico, despite their
strong heterogeneity, indicate some general trends and allow
for some general statements regarding their technical prop-
erties and material behavior. Siegesmund etal. (2022b),
therefore, directly formulate some observations and recom-
mendations when dealing with this extremely diverse mate-
rial, which may potentially help categorize the material and
estimate weathering resistance and construction suitability.
Novaković etal (2023) studied the intensities of degra-
dation processes present on the kersantite rock built into
the monument “Small Staircase” in Belgrade (Serbia). Ker-
santite is an important architectural building stone of Serbia
and is a striking feature of the capital’s architecture in the
first half of the twentieth century. It was widely used in the
construction of Belgrade buildings until the Second World
War. The investigations were conducted on sound rock from
the quarry and damaged stone used for the monument. While
some staircase parts were underground for 90 years, most of
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the stone elements were exposed to different environmen-
tal conditions and anthropogenic influences. The results of
Novaković etal (2023) confirm the importance of under-
standing and perceiving the synergistic action of the prop-
erties of the used material, the monument’s architecture, its
micro-environmental conditions and all the influences and
mechanisms that lead to the degradation of cultural monu-
ments built of stone.
García-Solís etal. (2023) studied the petrographic and
microfacial characterization of the building stones of build-
ings, monuments, and quarries of the archeological site of
Calakmul to document aspects of composition, lithologies,
and stone exploitation. Microfacial analysis shows that the
used building rocks are highly recrystallized biosparudites
with the presence of reef and shallow water fauna and come
from different quarries. These results determined by García-
Solís etal. (2023) help to identify the origin of the rocks,
their use in the buildings and monuments studied, and con-
tribute to the knowledge of their lithological characteristics
and their response to weathering in a tropical context. Such
aspects are crucial in the decision making for future conser-
vation processes.
Restoration andtechniques
The conservation of rocks as a measure of protection and
care of the structures built with natural rocks has generated
a series of state-of-the-art methodologies that are advancing
rapidly in the direction of being sustainable, environmentally
and landscape friendly.
The use of modern biological methods such as the ureo-
lytic microbial-induced calcite precipitation, utilizes urease
active bacteria to precipitate calcium carbonate to act as
a binding material (Mori and Uday 2021). In other cases,
conservation methods already known and used around the
world are analyzed, such as the application of hydrophobic
agents in the form of organosilicon compounds, applied to
the Baumberger sandstone to evaluate their influence on the
weathering processes during long-term exposure. These
analyses showed however, that hydrophobic surface treat-
ment did not lead to a significant decrease of weathering or
damages, therefore a hydrophobic surface treatment of the
Baumberger sandstone seems to be unsuitable (Orlowsky
etal. 2022). Many times, the restoration involves the use of
some type of mortar or even the use of artificial rocks.
For the modern-day conservation of historical monu-
ments, the main goal is to try and preserve the original mate-
rial as much as possible. When tuff stones are not available
for restoration measures, be it localized repair work or com-
plete natural stone replacement, the information determined
from the mineralogical and rock mechanical investigations
of volcanic tuffs, can help in giving us parameters by which
stone replacement materials (e.g., mortars or artificial
stones) can be matched to the available inventory. Stone
replacement mortars or artificially optimized replacement
stones should be developed and tested as a conservation
measure. Menningen etal. (2022) present a paper on the
development of mortars and artificial tuff rocks manufac-
tured using materials rejected during the quarrying of tuff
rocks. They use source material from Mexico and Armenia.
Utilizing this material, the production of replacement prod-
ucts with optimized properties for the restoration and repair
of severely damaged natural stones represents a resource-
saving measure for the preservation of these buildings.
Franzen and Fischer (2022) studied three sculpted figures
made from Cotta limestone, which presented a visual aspect
that resembled a more iron-like casting with the typical red-
dish-brown color of rust, like the products of iron corrosion.
Studies of this deterioration showed that the origin of the
rust was the dissolution of iron in the groundwater (Franzen
and Fischer 2022).
Tuff rocks from Armenia, Germany and Mexico were
treated with two commercially available consolidants based
on a silicic acid ester, as well as different pretreatments with
an anti-swelling agent and/or primer components (Pötzl etal.
2022a). The main goals of this study are to identify a general
suitability of different consolidating treatments for different
types of tuffs, evaluating tartaric acid as a primer compo-
nent for tuff consolidation and to pursue the approach of
finding a molecular answer for the apparent tuff consoli-
dation problematics, by testing a consolidation agent with
smaller molecules than products currently on the market,
e.g., tetramethoxysilane (TMOS).
Since the 1970s, the weathering of marble, with regard
to its loss of cohesion between the individual grains, has
been focused on monument conservation and has achieved
an increased level of importance (Menningen etal. 2021).
Until today, there were several materials developed, like the
acrylic resin total impregnation or its optimized formulation.
In Italy, the application of the so-called Bologna cocktail
was very common. Another consolidation material often
chosen is the tetra orthosilicate (TEOS/KSE), while the
bonding to calcitic surfaces causes problems. Menningen
etal. (2021) also show that, for various types of marble with
different properties, a reduction in residual strain after ther-
mal cycles can be achieved by treatment with aqueous solu-
tions of diammonium hydrogen phosphate (DAP). Because
of the formation of hydroxyapatite among calcite grains,
marble cohesion is increased, and the bowing tendency is
decreased after treatment with DAP. While for some types
of marble, bowing was low even after 30 heating–cooling
cycles after consolidation; in other cases, a progressive loss
in cohesion and resistance to bowing was registered. Fur-
ther tests are in progress to affirm the effectiveness and to
ascertain the long-term behaviour of DAP-treated marbles.
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
Environmental Earth Sciences (2023) 82:415
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Page 7 of 11 415
Many historically valuable buildings and cultural monu-
ments made of natural stone are severely threatened in their
existence. The cleaning of natural stone surfaces can be a
simple protective approach (Koch etal. 2023). The over-
riding principle here is caution and care, because on one
hand, the unique cultural heritage of the past should not
suffer irreparable damage or even be destroyed by improper
cleaning applications. When a hot-water high-pressure
cleaner with its massive cleaning aggregate is driven to the
front of a delicate sandstone facade, even civil engineers
feel extremely uneasy. In fact, the steam generated by this
unit has a smaller mechanical effect on the surface than a
toothbrush, and the “particle size” of this cleaning medium
is infinitely smaller than that of the finest abrasive used by
a micro-jet system. Such misconceptions can only be coun-
tered with a thorough scientific understanding of the work.
The quantitative comparison of different cleaning methods
for different types of building stone is a complex matter and
presented by Koch etal. (2023). The resulting water pres-
sure on the surface is significantly influenced by the cleaning
distance, but also by the equipment used and the respective
flow rate, which is also dependent on the cleaning process.
Miscellaneous
The reuse of marble and granite cutting waste to produce
facade panels with thermal insulation properties by alkali-
activation was studied by Bruschi etal. (2022). Both wastes
are viable precursors to produce facade panels with appro-
priate strength and thermal conductivity. Regarding the
thermal behavior, a range between 1.63 and 1.97W/m2°C
was obtained, which is lower than the thermal conductivity
values shown by current insulation materials with similar
density, indicating the suitability of the proposed solution
for thermal insulation.
Porous limestone was quarried in subsurface areas for
dimension stone from the nineteenth century in the Budapest
region. Zenah etal. (2022) assessed the stability of a cellar
system under surface by computing the critical depth and
Fig. 1 Rolf Snethlage (right) with Siegfried Siegesmund at the official book presentation of the textbook “Naturstein in der Kulturlandschaft” (2013)
at the German Federal Environmental Foundation in Osnabrück
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Environmental Earth Sciences (2023) 82:415
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415 Page 8 of 11
critical width of pillars under critical load for this type of
limestone. The strength reduction factor was calculated for
several geometries, indicating the changes in the stability of
these underground quarries and pointing out the importance
of cellar geometries.
Bruno etal. (2023) presented another example of under-
ground construction, a huge underground space used as a
water reservoir named Palombaro Lungo, located in the city
of Matera. The hypogeum is dug into a Plio–Pleistocene
rock called Gravina Calcarenite. It is a calcareous sandstone
and a weak rock with good mechanical properties, low per-
meability and easy to be excavated. The internal geometry of
the hypogeum and the rock thicknesses above the caves was
reconstructed by the integration of topographic and GPR
surveys. The results from numerical simulations showed a
stress–strain state compatible with the fractures detected
insitu and confirmed the absence of instability problems in
the groundwater reservoir.
Jamal-ud-din etal. (2023) assessed the vulnerability of
an urban area to earthquake hazards by using Geographi-
cal Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision
Making (MCDM) techniques. Twenty-four distinct indica-
tors of earthquake vulnerability were included in this study,
grouped into the socio-economic, structural, systematic,
and geological components. The results of this study may
be helpful for urban planners and authorities by protect-
ing human life, mitigating seismic risk, and identifying the
risk zones, and resource allocation by targeting vulnerable
locations and groups and deciding on development control
interventions.
This volume is dedicated to the memory of Professor Rolf
Snethlage (Fig.1). The international community of applied
geosciences loses an important researcher and teacher.
Through his research with its main emphasis on “Archaeom-
etry” (Volkswagen Foundation), Rolf Snethlage became the
first scientist at a state office for the preservation of monu-
ments in the central laboratory in Munich (Germany). From
then on, stone conservation was his research topic. Through
him, Munich very quickly became a center of national and
international restoration research.
Since the 1970s, the loss of cultural assets induced by
environmental contamination was increasing in the public’s
awareness, along with forest death due to atmospheric pollu-
tion. If one considers today’s discussions on climate change
and its influences on valuable cultural assets, it becomes
clear that half a century later there are actually even more
massive problems that seemed to have been solved. From
1985 to 1995, Rolf Snethlage was actively involved in
the research project “Stone Decay—Stone Conservation”
sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Research and
Fig. 2 Conservation of monuments and natural science: natural stone conservation a I (1995) & b II (1998), (Snethlage, Ed)
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
Environmental Earth Sciences (2023) 82:415
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Page 9 of 11 415
Technology (BMFT) and, as the project progressed, became
the responsible manager. This BMFT project marked the
beginning of scientific research into questions of weathering
and conservation in Germany. It was Rolf Snethlage who,
as editor, made the results available to a wide audience in
the “Jahresberichten Steinzerfall—Steinkonservierung”
and in the books “Denkmalpflege und Naturwissenschaft:
Natursteinkonservierung 1 und II” (Fig.2). The number
of publications by Rolf Snethlage is impressive (Fig.3).
Among restorers, building planners and stonemasons, his
“Leitfaden Steinkonservierung” (in the 5th edition with Dr.
Pfanner) is the standard work in the daily practice of monu-
ment conservation. The book by Siegesmund & Snethlage.
(eds.) “Stone in Architecture—Properties, Durability”, now
in its 5th edition, has been introduced worldwide and has
become a classic.
Internationally, Rolf impressed many people by his activi-
ties in a variety of European projects, at ICOMOS, RILEM
or EUROCARE EUROMARBLE. On behalf of the German
government, he was active in China in the conservation of
the clay figure army of the emperor Quin Shihuan, in Petra
(Jordan) or the Temple of God at Dafosi, etc.. Rolf Snethlage
liked to mingle in the circle of his colleagues and students
very much. At conferences and social gatherings, he was
always very balanced, witty, unagitated and cordial. Rolf
Snethlage leaves a gap that cannot be filled in any way.
Fig. 3 a Stone: decay and
Conservation, Edition Leipzig,
2004 (Siegesmund, Auras &
Snethlage, Ed., b Topical issue
on Monument Future: Climate
change, Air Pollution, decay and
Conservation, Environmental
Earth Science Vol. 56, Numbers
3–4, 2008, Siegesmund, Sneth-
lage and Ruedrich (Ed.), c Sav-
ing our Architectural Heritage
– Dahlem Report, 1997, Wiley
(Baer and Snethlage, Ed.), d
Denkmalgesteine: Festschrift
Wolf-Dieter Grimm, SDGG
Heft 59, 2008, Siegesmund &
Snethlage (Ed.)
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Environmental Earth Sciences (2023) 82:415
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415 Page 10 of 11
Author contributions All authors contributed to the Editorial
Funding Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt
DEAL.
Data availability Not applicable.
Declarations
Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attri-
bution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adapta-
tion, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source,
provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes
were made. The images or other third party material in this article are
included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated
otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in
the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not
permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will
need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a
copy of this licence, visit http:// creat iveco mmons. org/ licen ses/ by/4. 0/.
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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 damages in the internal structure of the stone. Scaling and layer-parallel flaking of rock fragments result from these types of damage-causing processes, especially when swellable clay minerals are present that lead to the generation of stresses in the rock fabric. Tuff and sandstone samples that exemplify these types of damages are investigated in this study, which were used in the construction of cultural heritage sites in Armenia, Mexico, Germany and Switzerland. Comparisons are made between these rock types considering that they show strong variations in fabric heterogeneity, grain sizes, mineralogical composition (e.g., swellable clay- and zeolite-bearing minerals), and visible macroscopic features such as depositional layering. Comprehensive investigations have been carried out that include detailed petrographic analyses, XRD analyses for the determination of the swellable and non-swellable clay fraction and minerals of the zeolite group, the cation exchange capacity (CEC), detailed SEM surveys for determining the type and localization of clays and zeolites in the rock fabric, as well as defining the petrophysical properties (e.g., porosity, capillary water uptake, water absorption, hydric expansion and mechanical properties). Moreover, this study explores the possible interaction between swellable clay minerals and zeolites (mordenite, heulandite/clinoptilolite) by conducting swelling experiments with salts and solvents and fluid-exchange experiments with and without the presence of zeolites. To explain the damages caused by the expansion in the tuffs and sandstones, two principle modes of moisture expansion are discussed when swellable clay minerals are present in the rock. These are dominantly inner or intracrystalline swelling, and secondarily, intercrystalline or osmotic swelling. When no swellable clay minerals are present, the study explains the damages in tuffs and sandstones as the result of disjoining pressure, where a high percentage of microporosity plays a pivotal role.