The Botanic Gardens building is made of limestone.
This limestone building was built in 1931. Like many of the limestone buildings in Washington, this building has been cleaned, so it does not have an accumulation of surface dirt. However, the cleaning and regular washing by rainfall have accentuated the fossils in the stone, which dissolve less readily than the calcite matrix. Some of the sculpted heads above the arches of the building show small black crusts. On the east side of the building, microorganisms naturally present in the stone contribute to the deterioration (blackening) of the stone, where water drips from a joint in the roof.
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| Fossil details stand out on the limestone at the Botanic Gardens building; the fossils are more resistant to dissolution than the calcite matrix that holds the fragments together. |
Sites 1-4
Map of All Sites on the Tour
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