Natural Stone, Weathering Phenomena, Conservation Strategies, and Case Studies

The protection of our architectural heritage has both the cultural and historical importance, as well as substantial economic and ecological value. Large sums of money are spent worldwide on measures for the preservation of monuments and historical buildings. Optimization of damage analysis procedures and damage process controls, as well as the development of monitoring and early warning systems for damage prevention, is needed. The past several decades has seen an unprecedented level of research activity in this area, the results of which are often difficult to access. This volume is intended to provide an integrated approach to the study of the deterioration of geomaterials, making the research available to a wide international audience.Natural Stone, Weathering Phenomena, Conservation Strategies and Case Studies comprises 30 chapters divided into 6 sections: weathering of natural building stones; weathering processes; fabric dependence of physical properties; biodeterioration; qualityassessment and conservation of stones; and environmental conditions. Review articles are combined with reports on recent progress in the various fields, authored by a comprehensive team of international contributors. This volume will be of interest to all those involved in the protection of our built heritage, particularly geoscientists, material scientist, construction engineers, architects and stone conservators.