Marble Tombstone Weathering and Air Pollution in North America

• Published in: Annals of the Association of American Geographers Vol. 83; no. 4; pp. 568 - 588
• Main Author: Meierding, Thomas C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Taylor & Francis Group 01.12.1993; Blackwell Publishers; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Association of American Geographers; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Acid rain; acidic deposition; Air pollution; Bgi / Prodig; Cemeteries; Cities; Coal; damage function; Geography; Geomorphology; Graves; gravestone; Headstones; Marble; marble deterioration; North America; Physical geography; Pollution; rock weathering; Smelters; Stone; sulfur dioxide; Towns; Weather; Weathering; Weathering processes; Hawaii; Canada; United States; North America; Atmospheric pollution; Pollution; Sulphur dioxide; Weathering; Acid rain; Cemetery; Chemical alteration; Carbonate rock
• ISSN: 0004-5608; 2469-4452; 1467-8306; 2469-4460
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8306.1993.tb01954.x

Maps of surface recession rates measured from 8,438 century-old Vermont marble tombstones at 320 cemeteries throughout North America and Hawaii demonstrate that air pollution (probably SO 2 ) has been responsible for more deterioration of carbonate building stone and statuary than have other weathering processes. Upper stone faces in heavily polluted localities (mean SO 2 concentrations of 350 ug/m 3 ) have receded at a mean rate >3 mm/100 yrs due to granular disintegration induced by growth of gypsum crystals between the calcite grains. Stone degradation rates are negligible in dry areas (western U.S., Great Plains); rainy, less polluted locales (Hawaii, southeastern U.S.); cold regions (Canada, high-altitude Rocky Mountains); and near tall-stack, coal-fired power plants. Weathering rates have been rapid where charcoal or high-sulfur coals have been used as fuel (industrial cities of the eastern US., small towns in the mid-west, ore smelters). Weathering rates strongly correlate with modeled SO 2 inputs for 18 American cities over a century, allowing for the development of a long-term marble dose-response function.