Characterisation of carbonate building stones of monuments in the Mediterranean coasts

The carbonatic stone degradation in marine environment is one of the most important problem on the conservation of the monuments of the Mediterranean Basin. In this study the control of the carbonate building stones of two monumental structures close to the sea in Cagliari town (Italy) was based on non-destructive acoustic ultrasonic investigation. The ultrasonic measurements were also integrated by a mineralogical-petrographical study of the investigated stones to correlate their petrophysical features with the elastic ones. From this study results that the modifications in the elasto-mechanical and petrophysical features of the investigated carbonate materials are the main causes which reduce their quality as building materials. Therefore the integration of the ultrasonic and petrophysical data provided a good knowledge of the investigated materials and gave an efficaceous contribution both in the diagnostics on the preservation state of the carbonate building materials and in checking the effectiveness of the restoration actions. Anyway the conclusion of this study cannot be easily extrapolated to other monuments of the Mediterranean area, because any changes in the local climate factors, in the environmental conditions of themonuments, in the characteristics of the carbonate stones can lead to a different diagnosis