Why Does Acid Rain Attack Marble Statues

Acid rain can damage buildings historic monuments and statues especially those made of rocks such as limestone and marble that contain large amounts of calcium carbonate.

Why does acid rain attack marble statues.

Although acid rain gases may originate in urban areas they are often carried for hundreds of miles in the atmosphere by winds into rural areas. This is worse when the rock is limestone. Acid rain effects on buildings. Effects of acid rain.

The reaction between caco and h so acid is caco s h so aq caso aq co g h o l caso is slightly soluble in water. Over decades of exposure to acid rain the details of a statue can be lost slowly turning them into featureless blobs. In exposed areas of buildings and statues we see roughened surfaces removal of material and loss of carved details. Acids have a corrosive effect on limestone or marble buildings or sculptures.

Acid rain has also attacked the chiseled words on some tombstones rendering them unreadable. In exposed areas of buildings and statues we see roughened. Sulfur dioxide an acid rain precursor can react directly with limestone in the presence of water to form gypsum which eventually. The most notable effects occur on marble and limestone which are common building materials found in many historic structures monuments and gravestones.

The marble has caco as the major component. Sulfur dioxide plus water makes sulfurous acid. Acids in the rain react with the calcium compounds in the stones to create gypsum which then flakes off. Acid rain harms fish and trees but it also makes chemical weathering happen more quickly.

Acid deposition also affects human made structures. Old statues monuments and tombstones are vulnerable to acid rain because they were made of limestone. The acids in acid rains can react with caco by producing soluble salts. When sulfurous sulfuric and nitric acids in polluted air and rain react with the calcite in marble and limestone the calcite dissolves.

That is why forests and lakes in the countryside can be harmed by acid rain that originates in cities. The environment can generally adapt to a certain amount of acid rain. Stone surface material may be lost all over or only in spots that are more reactive. Acid rain acid rain effects on human made structures.

When sulfurous sulfuric and nitric acids in polluted air react with the calcite in marble and limestone the calcite dissolves. That s why acid rain dissolves statues made of marble. Although many different types of stone have been used for sculpture the most vulnerable to potential acid rain damage are marble and limestone steiger 2015 the former is essentially a recrystallized form of the latter. Acid precipitation affects stone primarily in two ways.

Buildings and statues made from rock are damaged as a result.