Geological analysis explains durability of Stonehenge megaliths

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The first comprehensive scientific analysis of Stonehenge's imposing megaliths has revealed some of the traits that made them an exemplary building material for the famed monument in southern England including their stout resistance to weathering.

Researchers on Wednesday described a battery of examinations that provided a glimpse inside one of Stonehenge's 52 sandstone megaliths, known as sarsens, gaining insight into its geology and chemistry.

The examination clarified Stone 58's internal structure. It showed that the silcrete is comprised of mainly sand-sized quartz grains cemented tightly together by an interlocking mosaic of quartz crystals. Quartz is extremely durable and does not easily crumble or erode even when exposed to eons of wind and weather.

The core sample is a rod of stone, about an inch in diameter and roughly a yard long. Its cream color is brighter than the pale-gray exterior of the megaliths, which have been exposed to the elements for millennia. The researchers used CT-scanning, X-rays, microscopic analyses and various geochemical techniques to study fragments and wafer-thin slices of the core sample - such testing being off limits for megaliths at the site.

 

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