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4.3: Assignment

  • Page ID
    46409
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    Assignment:

    1. The puzzle of the Roman concrete was significantly resolved through the work by Jackson et al. (2017) and Seymour at al. (2023). Both point to sealing at the mineral-water interface as the cause of material durability, but through different mechanisms and involving different minerals.
      1. What is the mineral that seals off cracks in Roman on-land concrete according to Seymour et al.? What type of mineral is it? Where does it come from geologically?
      2. What is the mineral that seals off cracks in Roman marine concrete according to Jackson et al.? What type of mineral is it? Where does it come from geologically?
    2. Two millenniums have passed since the Roman concrete was developed in the first century BCE. But is this mechanism totally new? Or does it have similarities in known rock processes?
      1. Consider the cementation mechanism in clastic sedimentary rock formation. What are the similarities between this mechanism and the self-healing mechanism of the Roman concrete?
      2. Consider the recrystallization mechanism in metamorphic rock formation in chemically reactive fluids. What are the similarities between this mechanism and the self-healing mechanism of the Roman concrete?
    3. Note that in the work by Jackson et al, the mineral Al-tobermorite is an aluminosilicate, like the mineral zeolite. Compare the similarities between Al-tobermorite and zeolite in source of generation and crystal framework.
    4. Both the work by Jackson et al. and by Seymour et al. link their respective findings on ancient Roman concrete to the current issue of sustainability and CO2 emissions.
      1. In the work by Seymour et al., what is the rationale that ancient Roman concrete can help reduce anthropogenic CO2 emissions in the present society?
      2. In the work by Jackson et al., what is the rationale that the mechanism of mineral cementation learnt from the Roman concrete can be used to help remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it as solid minerals in volcanic solids?

    This page titled 4.3: Assignment is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Likwan Cheng.