摘要
Several recent studies have pointed out that northern parts of Jordan are exposed to high levels of the effect of the hot spring, which is widely known to have severe impacts on health, vegetation and structures. North Jordan has a wealth of ancient heritage including six out of the ten Decapolis Cities. Air pollution that comes out from the hot springs is alleged to deteriorate and erode buildings, structures, statues and monuments through acid deposition. Therefore, this research was conducted to assess air quality at Gadara, the capital of the ancient Decapolis and suggest mitigation measures that have to be adopted in order to save the ancient heritage against further deterioration. Measurements revealed that most criteria air pollutants including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide attain corresponding national ambient air quality standards. Atmospheric concentrations of NO are strongly linked to the amount of 03. Simultaneous exposure to SO2 and NO2 demonstrated that a catalytic reaction takes place which increases the rate of sulphate production after 30 h exposure.
