Why Does Acid Rain Attack Marble Statues

Acid deposition also affects human made structures.

Why does acid rain attack marble statues.

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. That is why forests and lakes in the countryside can be harmed by acid rain that originates in cities. The acids in acid rains can react with caco by producing soluble salts.

Effects of acid rain. The marble has caco as the major component. How does acid precipitation affect marble and limestone buildings. Acid rain harms fish and trees but it also makes chemical weathering happen more quickly.

Over decades of exposure to acid rain the details of a statue can be lost slowly turning them into featureless blobs. The environment can generally adapt to a certain amount of acid rain. Acid rain has also attacked the chiseled words on some tombstones rendering them unreadable. Acid rain effects on buildings.

Acids in the rain react with the calcium compounds in the stones to create gypsum which then flakes off. The most notable effects occur on marble and limestone which are common building materials found in many historic structures monuments and gravestones. When sulfurous sulfuric and nitric acids in polluted air and rain react with the calcite in marble and limestone the calcite dissolves. Sulfur dioxide plus water makes sulfurous acid.

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. 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. That s why acid rain dissolves statues made of marble. 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.

In exposed areas of buildings and statues we see roughened. Old statues monuments and tombstones are vulnerable to acid rain because they were made of limestone. Acid rain acid rain effects on human made structures. Stone surface material may be lost all over or only in spots that are more reactive.

Sulfur dioxide an acid rain precursor can react directly with limestone in the presence of water to form gypsum which eventually. Acid precipitation affects stone primarily in two ways. Both are composed of calcite caco 3 other types of stone which are composed of silicate minerals such as granite or sandstone are intrinsically more resistant to acid attack. When sulfurous sulfuric and nitric acids in polluted air react with the calcite in marble and limestone the calcite dissolves.

This is worse when the rock is limestone.