Biblioteca Digital

An integrated, multi-analytical approach combining the high sensitivity of SR-mXRF, the light element capability of PIXE/PIGE under a helium flux and the spatial resolution of BSEM + EDS was used to characterize chemical composition and corrosion of glass samples (first to fourth centuries AD) from an important, but scarcely investigated, Roman region of south-west Iberia (southern Portugal). The geochemical trends and associations of major, minor and trace elements were investigated to shed light on production techniques, the provenance of raw materials and decay mechanisms. The results, while confirming a produc- tion technique common to Roman glasses throughout the Empire—that is, a silica-soda-lime low-Mg, low-K composition, with glass additives as colouring and/or decolouring agents (Fe, Cu, Mn, Sb)—show at one site high Zr–Ti contents, suggesting a more precise dating for these glasses to the second half of the fourth century. The Ti–Fe–Zr–Nb geochemical correlations in the pristine glass indicate the presence of minerals such as ilmenite, zircon, Ti-rich Fe oxides and columbite in the sands used as raw materials for the glass former: these minerals are typical of granitic-type source rocks. The unusually high K content in the corrosion layers is consistent with burial conditions in K-rich soils derived from the alteration of 2:1 clays in K-bearing rock sequences.

An integrated, multi-analytical approach combining the high sensitivity of SR-mXRF, the light element capability of PIXE/PIGE under a helium flux and the spatial resolution of BSEM + EDS was used to characterize chemical composition and corrosion of glass samples(first to fourth centuries AD) from an important, but scarcely investigated, Roman region of south-west Iberia (southern Portugal). The geochemical trends and associations of major, minor and trace elements were investigated to shed light on production techniques, the provenance of raw materials and decay mechanisms. The results, while confirming a production technique common to Roman glasses throughout the Empire—that is, a silica-soda-lime low-Mg, low-K composition, with glass additives as colouring and/or decolouring agents (Fe,Cu, Mn, Sb)—show at one site high Zr–Ti contents, suggesting a more precise dating for these glasses to the second half of the fourth century. The Ti–Fe–Zr–Nb geochemical correlations in the pristine glass indicate the presence of minerals such as ilmenite, zircon, Ti-rich Fe oxides and columbite in the sands used as raw materials for the glass former: these minerals are typical of granitic-type source rocks. The unusually high K content in the corrosion layers is consistent with burial conditions in K-rich soils derived from the alteration of 2:1 clays in K-bearing rock sequences.

A multianalytical approach combining Optical Microscopy (OM), Backscattered Variable Pressure Scanning Electron Microscopy + Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (VP-BSEM + EDS), Powder X-ray Diffractometry (PXRD), Raman Spectroscopy, and Microbiological techniques has been applied to characterize decay products and processes occurring at the surface of two rockhewn churches (Bete Gyorgis and Bete Amanuel) at the UNESCO’s World Heritage site of Lalibela, Northern Ethiopia. The two churches were carved into volcanic scoria deposits of basaltic composition. In their geological history, the Lalibela volcanic rocks underwent late to post-magmatic hydrothermal alteration together with partial laterization and are therefore characterized by a decay-prone highly vesicular microtexture with late stage to post-magmatic precipitation of secondary mineral phases (calcite–zeolite–smectite). The main objective of the study was to gain a better insight into the weathering products and mechanisms affecting the surface of the stone monuments and to assess the relative contribution of natural “geological” weathering processes versus biological/salt attack in stone decay at this unique heritage site. Results indicate that while the main cause of bulk rock deterioration and structural failure could be related to the stone inherited “geological” features...