infocus #38 June 2015 Shot to pieces and shocked to the core

Lisa Mol reports on a microscopical investigation into bullet damage of our heritage

DOI: 10.22443/rms.inf.1.123

Bullet impacts are an often overlooked mechanism of stone decay. High speed impacts cause fracture networks that alter the stone matrix. Here we report on initial findings of a microscopical investigation into fracture networks and their responses to environmental change.

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Authors

Lisa Mol

Lecturer in Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University

Dr. Mol conducts research on a wide range of weathering processes including Arctic catchment productivity, specifically sediment influx and characteristics in relation to deglaciation, and clast weathering in the East Karoo, South Africa related to extreme flood events. She uses her spare time to research the impact of armed warfare on heritage conservation and developing new courses to pass this enthusiasm on to her students.

Owen R. Green

Geological Facilities Manager, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford

Owen R. Green: is the Geological Facilities Manager in the Department of Earth Science at the University of Oxford, overseeing the rock preparation and light microscopy facilities. Research interests include sample preparation techniques and protocols, and specifically applications in micropalaeontology. Recent research interests include contextual studies on the world’s oldest (3.5 billion years old) putative fossils from Western Australia and, at the more recent end of the geological time scale, the last marine shallow carbonateplatform foraminifera of the Tethyan Ocean recorded in rocks form the NW Himalayas as India crashed into Asia 50.5 million years ago.