Controls on Stone Temperatures and the Benefits of Interdisciplinary Exchange

Abstract

Data derived from a series of field and laboratory studies of the influence of albedo and thermal conductivity on stone temperatures are reported. The data indicate the complexity of surface and subsurface temperature response characteristics of different stone types exposed to the same conditions. They also highlight the influence of albedo and thermal conductivity on microenvironmental conditions at the rock-air interface. These conditions have significant implications for the nature and rate of weathering activity and may, over time, affect any treatments applied to stone surfaces. Although the studies reviewed were carried out within the subject area of geomorphology, the data reported and the implications for stone weathering arising from them may be of some relevance to the conservation science perspective on deterioration of contemporary, historical, and archaeological stonework.