background and objectives: in the last few decades, losses of our cultural heritage due to biodeteriorationare beinghighly recognized. from museum objects to rock monuments, the microbial biodeterioration agents are found to be the most destructive. possibilities for proper preservative measure(s) are always more when it is only a monument, statue, museum article, or pre-historic art in any sma...

We investigated the mineralogy of basalt weathering rinds and fresh basaltic rocks using visible/near-infrared (VNIR) (λ=0.4– 2.5 μm) and thermal emission (λ=6–30 μm) spectroscopy to 1) constrain the effects of chemical weathering on rock spectra, and 2) further understand the context of infrared spectra ofMars,whichmay contain evidence for weathered rocks and particulates derived from them. VN...

With the rapid development of national economic construction, traffic network is extending continuously, and the scope of the highway construction is gradually shifting from plain to the mountains. However, weathered rock occupies heavily along highway in mountainous area, and high quality subgrade filling is extremely short, thus a large amount of subgrade filling needed for subgrade high-fill...

Rhizobium sp. H41 isolated from weathered tuff can weather tuff and release Fe, Si, and Al from the rock under nutrient-poor conditions. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of strain H41, which may facilitate a better understanding of the molecular mechanism involved in rock weathering by the bacterium.

Tafone-like depressions have developed on the Aoshima sandstone blocks used for a masonry bridge pier in the coastal spray zone. A thin layer of partial granular disintegration was found on the surface in depressions. To evaluate quantitatively the strength of the thin weathered layer, the hardness was measured at the surface of the sandstone blocks using both an Equotip hardness tester and an ...

Landslides in tropical and sub-tropical regions are generally associated with weathered rock profiles which often possess chemical and mineralogical heterogeneities at materialand mineral-scales. Such heterogeneities reach a climax by the occurrences of oxyhydroxideand clayrich zones. Weakness and low permeability of these zones makes them ideal for the development of slip zones along which lan...

Introduction: Chemical weathering and petrologic trends of the martian surface have been estimated from thermal infrared (TIR) spectral models from the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) and Mini-TES on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers [1,2]. Interpretations of chemical data from APXS on the MER rovers and TIR data from TES and the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) suggest planet-wide ...

Four bacterial species isolated from the rhizoplane of cacti growing in bare lava rocks were assessed for growth promotion of giant cardon cactus seedlings (Pachycereus pringlei). These bacteria fixed N(2), dissolved P, weathered extrusive igneous rock, marble, and limestone, and significantly mobilized useful minerals, such as P, K, Mg, Mn, Fe, Cu, and Zn in rock minerals. Cardon cactus seeds ...

A novel mineral-weathering bacterium was isolated from weathered rock (potassic trachyte) surfaces collected from Nanjing (Jiangsu, PR China). Cells of strain JN246(T) were Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped and non-motile. Strain JN246(T) was aerobic, catalase- and oxidase-positive, and grew optimally at 28 °C and pH 7.0. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain JN246(T) belonged t...