Project description DEENESFRITPL How climate change impacts underwater cultural heritage Besides heritage buildings, cultural landscapes, and archaeological sites on land, climate change is also a threat to underwater sites. The EU-funded WATERISKULT project will study the climate change risk to underwater cultural heritage, with a focus on archaeological stone. Specifically, it will consider ocean acidification (combined with sea level rise and ocean warming) and increasing intensity and shifts of extreme weather events (cyclones). It will also shed light on the causes and effects of current stone deterioration, investigating underwater sites of the Mediterranean. The project will take an interdisciplinary approach involving petrography/mineralogy, oceanography, analytical chemistry, marine biology, hydraulic engineering, and underwater archaeology. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective The impact of climate change on cultural heritage has been addressed only recently beside the most discussed environmental and socioeconomic implications. Broad attention is given to the vulnerability of tangible cultural assets on land, whereas underwater sites are often neglected. WATERISKULT provides the first quantitative assessment of the climate change risk to underwater cultural heritage, with a focus on archaeological stone. The project aims at predicting the effects of key-factors of climate change on stone deterioration, i.e. ocean acidification (combined with sea level rise and ocean warming) and increasing intensity and shifts of extreme weather events (cyclones); by laboratory simulations, field-exposure tests, and monitoring of heritage stones, the effects of different levels of CO2, pressure, and temperature in seawater and high-intensity ocean currents will be investigated. This project also aims at exploring the causes and effects of current deterioration in underwater archaeological sites, constrained by diverse stone properties and submarine environments, specifically in the Mediterranean region. Downscaled trends and patterns of observed and predicted stone decay will be obtained, based on the (micro)structural and compositional changes and biodeterioration. This research adopts an interdisciplinary approach involving petrography/mineralogy, oceanography, analytical chemistry, marine biology, hydraulic engineering, and underwater archaeology.WATERISKULT may pave the way to long-term strategies of heritage protection and studies of other archaeological materials. By marking a step forward in assessing the climate change risk to the anthroposphere, the timeliness of this project reflects the policies and research promoted by the EU, at the forefront of the fight against climate change and heritage valorization. The echo of the environmental debate on the media is now stronger than ever, and so are the possibilities to raise public awareness. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesmarine biologynatural scienceschemical sciencesanalytical chemistrynatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesgeologymineralogynatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changesnatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesgeologypetrologypetrography Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2020 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2020 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF) Coordinator UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PADOVA Net EU contribution € 171 473,28 Address Via 8 febbraio 2 35122 Padova Italy See on map Region Nord-Est Veneto Padova Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00
