Stone-built heritage as a proxy archive for long-term historical air quality: A study of weathering crusts on three generations of stone sculptures on Broad Street, Oxford

Black crusts on historic buildings are mainly known for their aesthetic and deteriorative impacts, yet they also can advance air pollution research. Past air pollutants accumulate in distinct layers of weathering crusts. Recent studies have used these crusts to reconstruct pollution to improve our understanding of its effects on stone-built heritage. However, the majority of the studies provide only coarse resolution reconstruction of pollution, able to distinguish between 'inner=old' and 'outer=modern' crust layers. In contrast, very few studies have linked distinct periods of exposure to pollution variations in the composition of these crusts. Herewe address this research gap by developing a finer-scale resolution pollution record. Our study explored the unique configuration of limestone sculptures in central Oxford, which have been exposed over the last 350 years to three different periods of atmospheric pollution; the early Industrial Revolution, the Victorian period and the 20th century. When the first two generations of sculptures weremoved to less polluted areas, their 'pollution clocks' were stopped. Herewe discuss the potential of investigating the 'pollution clock' recorded in the geochemicalmakeup of each sculpture generation'sweathering crust layers. We found the analysed crusts record clear changes related to the evolution ofmodes of transport and industrial and technological development in Oxford. Higher levels of Arsenic (As), Selenium (Se) are linked to pollution from coal burning during Victorian times and Lead (Pb) indicated leaded petrol use inmodern times. Our work shows that stone-built heritage with a known history of air pollution exposure allows improving the pollution reconstruction resolution of these weathering crusts. The results provide the basis for calibrating long-term geochemical archives. This approach may be used to reconstruct past air quality and has the potential to inform stoneweathering research and conservation, in addition to improving the reconstruction of historical pollution. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Research on limestone sculptures in central Oxford reveals distinct changes in weathering crusts related to pollution exposure from different historical periods, such as the Industrial Revolution and the Victorian era. This finer-scale pollution record provides insights into the evolution of modes of transport and industrial development in Oxford, showing clear associations between specific pollutants like Arsenic (As), Selenium (Se), and Lead (Pb) with past pollution sources.