Corrosion of Archaeological Artefacts from the Olviya Site in Ukraine
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&RUURVLRQRI$UFKDHRORJLFDO$UWHIDFWVIURPWKH2OYL\D6LWHLQ8NUDLQH Larisa V. Demchenko, Borys P. Zlobenko, Vyacheslav I. Manichev, Vadim V. Kadoshnikov, Ludmila V. Spasova Institute of Environmental Geochemistry NAS, Kiev, 03142, Ukraine. $%675$&7 Copper and bronze artefacts of Olviya archaeological collection dated the first century B.C. were the objects of this study. Susceptibility to soil corrosion of archaeological artefacts from pure copper and bronze was investigated. Detailed mineralogical and metallographic investigations were performed on specially prepared samples of metallic copper, such as cut and polished sections of a cylindrical body, etc. They reveal a complex picture of metal structure and mineralogical features that can be attributed to both original technological process of manufacturing and to alteration during the burial and weathering history. Corrosion products were researched and the thickness of the corrosion layer formed for the long period of time was determined. It is shown, that the corrosion rate of artefacts produced by casting depends on composition alloys and change of metal structure after the next mechanical-thermal processing. The soil corrosion rate of copper alloys also depends on the redox conditions in the soil of Olviya site. ,1752'8&7,21 Programs on research of copper properties and its use as a material of external cover of containers designed for radioactive waste (RAW) disposal in deep geological formations, have been developed many countries during the last 20 years. Various metals have been tested for the construction of RAW containers, but copper appeared to be more preferable because of its mechanical features and high corrosion stability [1-4]. Radioactive waste disposal leads to a number of problems connected with the necessity to consider a very long time period. Studies, however, of long-term stability of mechanical and corrosion properties of archaeological materials have a forecasting character as the time of waste isolation exceeds the acceptable time of the administrative control. Studying of corrosion stability of archaeological copper and bronze objects, may, depending on geochemical conditions of the environment, clarify the behaviour of the copper containers in a geological environment during a long period of time. In spite of the fact that analogues of materials and the environmental conditions of archaeological objects are not identical to the engineering and natural barriers of RAW depositories, ancient anthropogenic analogues has already passed test of time and may be chosen as research objects of long-term resistance to corrosion. In the present study detailed mineralogical and metallographic investigations were performed on specially prepared samples of metal copper, such as cut and polished sections of a cylindrical body, etc., using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray spectral microanalysis, X-ray diffraction and emission spectral analysis. Soil samples were studied using
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chemical, mineralogical, spectral, and ra
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