Characterization of Anisotropic Salt Weathering through Nondestructive Techniques Mapping Using a GIS Environment.

Doctrinal texts on architectural heritage conservation emphasize the importance of fully understanding the structural and material characteristics and utilizing information systems. Photogrammetry allows for the generation of detailed, geo-referenced Digital Elevation Models of architectural elements at a low cost, while GIS software enables the addition of layers of material characteristic data to these models, creating different property maps that can be combined through map algebra. This paper presents the results of the mechanical characterization of materials and salt-related decay forms of the polygonal apse of the 13th-century monastery of Santa María de Bonaval (Guadalajara, Spain), which is primarily affected by salt crystallization.

A new high-resolution 3-D quantitative method for analysing small morphological features: an example using a Cambrian trilobite.

Taphonomic processes play an important role in the preservation of small morphological features such as granulation or pits. However, the assessment of these features may face the issue of the small size of the specimens and, sometimes, the destructiveness of these analyses, which makes impossible carrying them out in singular specimen, such as holotypes or lectotypes. This paper takes a new approach to analysing small-morphological features, by using an optical surface roughness (OSR) meter to create a high-resolution three-dimensional digital-elevation model (DEM).

The benefit of a tough skin: bullet holes, weathering and the preservation of heritage.

Projectile damage to building stone is a widespread phenomenon. Sites damaged 100 years ago during the First World War still see daily use, while in a more contemporary setting numerous reports show the damage to buildings in Babylon, Mosul and Palmyra. While research has been carried out on the long-term effects of conflict such as fire damage, little is known about the protracted damage sustained through the impact of bullets, shrapnel and other metal projectiles outside of the field of engineering focused on ceramics and metals.