Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Chemical and Biochemical Onslaught of Anthropogenic Airborne Species on the Heritage Monument, the Taj Mahal

Version 1 : Received: 23 June 2019 / Approved: 24 June 2019 / Online: 24 June 2019 (09:22:15 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Banerjee, D.; Sarkar, S. Chemical and Biochemical Onslaught of Anthropogenic Airborne Species on the Heritage Monument of the Taj Mahal. Heritage 2019, 2, 2137-2159. Banerjee, D.; Sarkar, S. Chemical and Biochemical Onslaught of Anthropogenic Airborne Species on the Heritage Monument of the Taj Mahal. Heritage 2019, 2, 2137-2159.

Abstract

The science on the anthropogenic airborne aerosols impacting upon the World Heritage marble monument, the Taj Mahal, at Agra has been studied in the light of modern physico-chemical approaches. The study is an effort to understand yet unrecognized airborne species which were found on the surface of the Taj Mahal monument. These species have been analyzed in the light of current analytical methods to impart characterization features and their possible impacts on the surface of the marble. Chemical constituents of these substrates which were incorporated over the top surface of the monument have been identified. Interestingly, the carbon particulates which were thought in the micro level, popularly called “particulate matters” has now been identified even in the nano domain entity, which are chemically more reactive, have been found on the surface of the monument. Because of their high chemical activity these nano carbons do play newer chemistry in the presence of air and sunlight generating several reactive oxygen species (ROS).These ROS are capable to respond to complicated chemical reactions on the surface of the marble in association with deposited cyanophyceae and other deposits of plant origin causing rapid degradation. This study provides the nature of onslaught borne out by such monument exposed under the prevalent smoggy environmental scenario.

Keywords

marble black crust; carbon nano particles; soluble dust; blue-green algae (cyanophyceae); humic substances

Subject

Arts and Humanities, Art

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Metrics 0


×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.