Salt Research: Mechanisms of Salt Decay and Methods of Mitigation
 

Drill resistance measurement determining impact of salt contamination on the mechanical properties of brick. Photo: Dennis Keeley.

Salination of Umm ‘Ishrin sandstone prisms from Petra, Jordan, by immersion in saturated NaCl solution. Photo: Stefan Simon.

Environmental scanning electron micrograph of Umm ‘Ishrin sandstone from Petra with sodium chloride crystal in kaolinite clay platelets. Photo: Tiziana Lombardo.

Measurement setup for recording dilatation and shrinkage as a function of relative humidity cycles. Photo: Stefan Simon.

Different poultice materials for desalination compresses. Photo: Eric Doehne.

Sodium chloride efflorescence on side of brick with desalination compress on top. Note apparent migration of salts from surface to side due to preferential drying. Photo: Stefan Simon.

Taking drill powder profiles in order to determine the distribution of salts for controlling the desalination efficiency. Photo: Stefan Simon.

Application of poultices on salt-laden bricks in order to test their salt uptake and degree of desalination. Photo: Stefan Simon.

A series of electron micrographs illustrating—at progressively higher magnification—the presence of small salt crystals adjacent to fracture surfaces in limestone. The salt crystals' shape and location provide evidence of how damage takes place. The smallest features visible in these images are less than 1/10,000 of a millimeter in size. Photos: Eric Doehne.

Deliquescence sequence of sodium chloride crystal in ESEM (12,000x). Photo: Eric Doehne.