Abiotic and microbially influenced corrosion on buried iron artefacts

Abstract

Microbial influences on the corrosion process of archaeological iron artefacts are seldom mentioned in conservation literature. However, the theoretical discussion - based on knowledge from adjacent sciences - indicates that the phenomenon MIC (for microbially induced corrosion) is very likely to occur on archaeological objects during burial - and maybe even beyond this period. In generalized scenarios, where microbial life coincides with "object life", distinctive issues on the condition of findings, relevant for means of conservation, were pointed out. An experiment to distinguish effects of MIC from effects of abiotic corrosion is suggested as an approach to specific research on MIC under the means of conservation. © 2013 WIT Press.