MagNetZ With Aldo Winkler (2024/03/13) - The magnetism of leaves and lichens for cultural heritage
Channel: MagNetZ
Date: 13/03/2024

The magnetism of leaves and lichens for monitoring and mitigating the impact of particulate matter on cultural heritage

The video is also available for download at: https://earthref.org/ERDA/2731/
and can be referenced with the doi: 10.7288/V4/ERDA/2731

Title: The magnetism of leaves and lichens for monitoring and mitigating the impact of particulate matter on cultural heritage
Author: Aldo Winkler from Instituto Nazionale Di Geofisica E Vulcanologia (INGV), Italy

Particulate matter (PM) can show remarkable magnetic properties arising from magnetite-like ferrimagnetic particles, often associated with trace metals. In urban areas, motor vehicles represent the main source of magnetic PM, mostly emitted by brakes.
Rock magnetism can be applied to the biomonitoring of the airborne pollution, using plant leaves and lichens as efficient bioaccumulators of anthropogenic dust.
Here, it will be discussed the role of the magnetic and chemical biomonitoring applied to cultural heritage settings, where PM causes, i.a., dark layers, abrasion of materials and artistic loss.
The biomonitoring techniques were introduced at Villa Farnesina, Rome. Lichen exposure was combined with the sampling of plant leaves outside the Villa and inside its Gardens. In fact, trees and shrubs are important for their role in removing air pollutants, providing ecosystem services for the protection of cultural heritage.
Further investigations were carried out at Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, where the magnetic analyses were found to be more sensitive than the chemical ones for outlining the negligible impact of airborne particulate pollution arising from the Grand Canal towards the Collection.
Further studies are going on at the Archeological Park of Colosseum in Rome, at selected Nacional Museums in Buenos Aires, at Brunelleschi's Dome in Florence and at Metropolitan Museum in New York, with the aim of assessing the impact of PM at various cultural heritage urban contexts.


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00:00 - Intro
01:40 - Presentation
32:24 - Questions
45:55 - Announcements