Impacts of anisotropy coefficient and porosity on the thermal conductivity and P-wave velocity of calcarenites used as building materials of historical monuments in Morocco

It is essential to study the porosity,thermal conductivity,and P-wave velocity of calcarenites,as well as the anisotropy coefficients of the thermal conductivity and P-wave velocity,for civil engineering,and conservation and restoration of historical monuments.This study focuses on measuring the thermal conductivity using the thermal conductivity scanning(TCS)technique and measuring the P-wave ve-locity using portable equipment.This was applied for some dry and saturated calcarenite samples in the horizontal and vertical directions(parallel and perpendicular to the bedding plane,respectively).The calcarenites were selected from some historical monuments in Morocco.These physical properties were measured in the laboratory to find a reliable relationship between all of these properties.As a result of the statistical analysis of the obtained data,excellent linear relationships were observed between the porosity and both the thermal conductivity and porosity.These relationships are characterized by relatively high coefficients of determination for the horizontal and vertical samples.Based on the thermal conductivity and P-wave velocity values in these two directions,the anisotropy coefficients of these two properties were calculated.The internal structure and the pore fabric of the calcarenite samples were delineated using scanning electron microscopy(SEM),while their chemical and mineral compositions were studied using the energy dispersive X-ray analysis(EDXA)and X-ray diffraction(XRD)techniques.

General Evaluation of the Potential of the Cultural-Historical Heritage Built in the Republic of Moldova

This article analyzes the efficiency of the administration, as well as the way of financing the cultural heritage of the Republic of Moldova through the prism of the legal, institutional and cultural policy framework. Following the research, it was found that in the last 30 years the efficient and transparent management of the material cultural heritage of the Republic of Moldova has not been ensured, which endangers the national cultural heritage. If the current management and financing model does not change significantly in the near future, there is a risk that the cultural heritage of the Republic of Moldova will reach an unrecoverable condition.

The Vascular Vegetation Populating the Flora in Building Materials of Historic Monuments Cities of the West Central Region of Morocco

In the concern of the preservation of the main historic monuments of the cities of Rabat and Sale (Morocco), a botanical study was conducted in 2009. The prospecting of these monuments allowed raising an inventory of the flora populating their building materials, and it has proved that this flora is rich and diversified. Indeed, it consists of 171 adventitious species distributed in 46 botanical families. The most represented families are Asteraceae, Poaceae, Fabaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Geraniaceae, Brassicaceae and Lamiaceae. They supply, to them only 49.7% of the specific size. The annual therophytes and the dicotyledon are dominant with respectively 66.7% and 84.7% of the specific size. Nevertheless, the presence of more than 20 species of trees and perennials constitutes a serious danger for bulwarks walls, especially by the phenomenon of fissuring by the action of the huge roots of these vegetables. These vegetables fitting into are placed on joints or cracks fissures have a chemical action on stones by acids that they release, and also a mechanical action by the growth of roots inside cracks fissures. They remain one of these are one of the important biological factors of the degradation of historic monuments. It is to note that the bulwarks walls of the site of Chella (Roman ruins) present more floral diversity than the other canvassed monuments (91 species) that are 53% of the total size.

Characterization of the Biodegradation of Kasbahs of the Gharb Region (Mehdia and Kenitra Kasbahs, Morocco)

With the aim of contributing to the solutions linked to the problems of the preventive preservation and the restoration of the Kasbah of Mehdia or the Kasbah of Moulay El Hassan, a study of the flora populating the facades of these historical monuments was realized and showed the presence of a varied and diverse vegetation populating these buildings left to the ravages of time. The inventory of this flora showed the existence of 70 species among which 48were exclusively detected at the Kasbah of Mehdia, 11 other species were only discovered at the Kasbah of Kenitra and 11 vegetal species were inventoried at both Kasbahs. These plant species are divided into 28 families. Four families clearly dominate the flora inventoried at both Kasbahs of the Gharb region. These are the Asteraceae (15.7%),Poaceae (10%), Apiaceae (8.6%) and Scrophulariaceae (5.7%). These families alone account for 41.4% of the specific size of the flora of the studied sites. The most dominant vegetal type is the therophytes with 61.4% of the total specific size, followed by hemicryptophytes with 17.1%. Located at the top or the base of walls, these plants, fitting into joints or cracks, have a chemical action on the stones by acids which they release and also have a mechanical action on the stones by the growth of roots inside cracks. This vegetation remains one of the most important biological factors of the degradation of historical monuments.