Dating of biodeposits of oxalates at the Arc de Bera in Tarragona, Spain.

Abstract

This research stems from an earlier study of the lichen covering with oxalate deposits at the Arc de Bera monument. The initial objective of dating these biodeposits opened up other questions concerning the structure of these deposits and how they were formed. Some dating results gave an absolute age greater than the monument itself, which posed various hypotheses on the possible ageing mechanisms.