Taj Mahal, made of exquisite white calcite, continues to deteriorate due to the emission of sulphur dioxide, methane etc. by industries and vehicular exhaust caused by the dense population in the region. Our previous collaborative works on samples with Pietra-Dura works already showed damages and irregularities including surface discolouration due to methane, water inclusions in the volume, and sub-surface cracks employing micro-Raman spectroscopy, broadband Terahertz Time Domain Imaging (THz-TDI) and THz Laser Feedback Interferometry (THz-LFI). Here, two types of samples having similar artwork, but one made of marble having high sulphur content have been investigated. Employing energy dispersive X-Ray analysis (EDAX), the sulphur content in the previous calcite sample is found to be nil while the new one has 16% by weight. While visually the samples are similar, under optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), calcite presents grainier structure with larger porosity while the other one appears denser with finer porosity. In ultra-low-frequency (ULF) Raman spectroscopy, the calcite sample (less than 0.15% Mg content) produces a significant line at 1100 cm-1 while the marble with sulphur shows a markedly different spectral response with the significant line at 1010 cm-1 . Using both THz-TDI and THz Continues Wave (THz CW) imaging, we concluded that calcite marble has significantly larger THz penetration even at 1 THz, while the marble with high sulphur content has very low THz penetration even below 0.5 THz and high THz absorption offering higher THz reflectivity. These observations pave the way to objectively detect the extent of environmental damage to marble structures across the globe.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.