Acid rain damage to carbonate stone: A quantitative assessment based on the aqueous geochemistry of rainfall runoff from stone

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Abstract
An onsite experimental procedure was used to identify and quantify acid rain damage to carbonate stone, based on the change in rain runoff chemical composition. Observed changes in runoff from stone are attributed to the interaction of acidic species present in the rain with the stone surface. Onsite data obtained during the summer and fall of 1984 at three locations in the northeastern United States indicate that carbonate stone surface recession is related to acid deposition. Although the study is continuing, current data are not adequate to distinguish differences in the acid‐stone reaction between limestone and marble nor among the three study sites. A single linear relation between carbonate stone surface recession (the dependent variable) and hydrogen ion loading to the stone surface (the independent variable) appears to describe the data set.