TY - JOUR
T1 - A Multi Proxy Investigation of Moisture, Salt, and Weathering Dynamics on a Historic Urban Boundary Wall in Oxford, UK
AU - Egartner, Isabel
AU - Sass, Oliver
AU - Viles, Heather
AU - Dietzel, Martin
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - Boundary walls are neglected but important parts of historic urban environments, and they are often prone to serious deterioration. Understanding moisture and salt dynamics within boundary walls can help infer the causes and dynamics of deterioration. This investigation investigates the patterns of moisture, salt, and deterioration on a 300 year old limestone boundary wall in Worcester College, Oxford. Multiple methods to assess moisture and salts within and across the wall (electrical resistivity tomography, handheld resistivity-based moisture meter, paper pulp poultices, scanning electron microscopy, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, and ion chromatography of small scale sampling of deteriorated limestone) were used in conjunction with decay mapping of both sides of the wall. The salt weathering strongly correlates with severely weathered zones at the wall and salts, mainly sulfates, seem to be the main agent of decay processes. The combined results demonstrate that the environmental influences driving stone decay can differ on a very small scale even at a comparatively simple structure like a boundary wall, and that repairs can have adverse effects if the patterns of salt and moisture dynamics are not sufficiently known.
AB - Boundary walls are neglected but important parts of historic urban environments, and they are often prone to serious deterioration. Understanding moisture and salt dynamics within boundary walls can help infer the causes and dynamics of deterioration. This investigation investigates the patterns of moisture, salt, and deterioration on a 300 year old limestone boundary wall in Worcester College, Oxford. Multiple methods to assess moisture and salts within and across the wall (electrical resistivity tomography, handheld resistivity-based moisture meter, paper pulp poultices, scanning electron microscopy, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, and ion chromatography of small scale sampling of deteriorated limestone) were used in conjunction with decay mapping of both sides of the wall. The salt weathering strongly correlates with severely weathered zones at the wall and salts, mainly sulfates, seem to be the main agent of decay processes. The combined results demonstrate that the environmental influences driving stone decay can differ on a very small scale even at a comparatively simple structure like a boundary wall, and that repairs can have adverse effects if the patterns of salt and moisture dynamics are not sufficiently known.
KW - Architectural heritage
KW - formation of weathering features
KW - moisture
KW - multi-method approach
KW - non-destructive investigation
KW - salts
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85068510538&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/00393630.2019.1628480
DO - 10.1080/00393630.2019.1628480
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85068510538
SN - 0039-3630
JO - Studies in Conservation
JF - Studies in Conservation
ER -