Kosmo Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 "Microbes eating away at pieces of history At Angkor Wat, the dancers' feet are crumbling. The palatial 12th-century Hindu temple, shrouded in the jungles of Cambodia, has played host to a thriving community of cyanobacteria ever since unsightly lichens were cleaned off its walls nearly 20 years ago. The microbes have not been good guests. These bacteria (Gloeocapsa) not only stain the stone black, they also increase the water absorbed by the shale in morning monsoon rains and the heat absorbed when the sun comes out. The result, says Thomas Warscheid, a geomicrobiologist based in Germany, is a daily expansion and contraction cycle that cracks the temple's facade and its internal structure. Warscheid, who has studied Angkor Wat for more than a decade, said in an interview that these pendulum swings had broken away parts of celestial dancer sculptures on the temple walls" ... "Microbes pose a serious risk to the monuments at the Acropolis in Athens, including the golden-proportioned Parthenon and the Temple of Athena Nike, said Sophia Papida, conservator for the Acropolis Restoration Service. Bacteria penetrate the veins of the marble, attract water and expand, cracking the monuments' faces and pillars, Papida said. Lichens burrow circular holes in the marble, a phenomenon known as honeycomb weathering, and exfoliate sculptural friezes that tell the stories of gods and goddesses. Microbes also thwart painstaking efforts to restore the monuments. Acropolis stones can crumble into thousands of pieces, leaving a near-inscrutable jigsaw puzzle. "Our work is attacked by micro-organisms and we have to go back, remove the micro-organisms and put it back together," Papida said. "The bacteria which are there, they are having a good time, actually." ... http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/24/hea...ence/24micr.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASCLEPIADES Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 "Microbes eating away at pieces of historyhttp://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/24/hea...ence/24micr.php Salve, K, et gratiam habeo for such nice article; it's easy to forget how difficult and expensive might become the preservation of the architecture and sculpture from our ancestors. Anyway, its conclusion is quite pessimistic: "In Warscheid's view, protecting monuments, while important, is delaying the inevitable. "We have to accept that at some moment they will disappear," he said. "But we know a lot about how to conserve them for the next 20, 30 years"." Is that really a relief? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmo Posted June 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 I think it is because after 30 years we will know better how to protect them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASCLEPIADES Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 I think it is because after 30 years we will know better how to protect them. Good point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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