Investigation of Climate Change Impacts on the Building Materials of Archeological Monuments

Abstract

Weather conditions affect the microclimate of architectural monuments. The alteration of microclimate conditions may create risks for monuments, accelerating their weathering process. For Greece, hosting numerous monuments, the identification of the risks that climate change possess is essential for planning mitigation actions. The main soluble salts that affect archaeological materials are halite and the system of thenardite/mirabilite. The thermodynamics of the salts’ equilibrium are affected by atmospheric conditions. We study the climatology of these conditions, adopting modeled data produced by high-resolution simulations. Possible climate change impacts are investigated, aiming at mapping monuments’ vulnerability in Greece.

Keywords

• cultural heritage
• climate change
• salt transitions
• halite
• mirabilite