Comments on the Yule Marble Haines Block—Potential Replacement, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery
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Comments on the Yule Marble Haines Block—Potential Replacement, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery By Victor G. Mossotti Open-File Report 2013–1182 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior SALLY JEWELL, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Suzette M. Kimball, Acting Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2014 For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment—visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1–888–ASK–USGS For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod To order other USGS information products, visit http://store.usgs.gov Suggested citation: Mossotti, V. G., 2014, Comments on the Yule Marble Haines Block—Potential Replacement, Tomb of the Unknown Solider, Arlington National Cemetery: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2013–1182, 18 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20131182. ISSN 2328-0328 (online) Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. Cover: Photograph of Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery, SE and NW corners. Close-up: Northwest corner; Ruler width=11mm. Photographed by Victor G. Mossotti, U.S. Geological Survey. Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Yule Marble .................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Observations at Yule Marble Quarry .............................................................................................................................. 2 Observation of Cracks on the Tomb Die ........................................................................................................................ 5 Interpretations and Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................................................... 7 References Cited ........................................................................................................................................................... 7 Appendix ........................................................................................................................................................................ 9 Figures Figure 1. Photograph of the Haines block at its present location near the Yule Marble Quarry .......................... 10 Figure 2. View of Yule subterranean marble quarry below portal two ................................................................. 10 Figure 3. Photograph of light gray mineral inclusions trains ................................................................................ 11 Figure 4. Photograph of core hole ~3.5 cm diameter and ~4.5 cm deep, centered on hairline crack. ................. 11 Figure 5. Photograph of the back side (last face attached to quarry wall) of a block ........................................... 12 Figure 6. Close-up photograph of inclusion trains ............................................................................................... 12 Figure 7. Photograph of the back side of a block ................................................................................................ 13 Figure 8. A series of images, at systematically increasing resolution (zoomed-in), of Yule Marble internal texture .................................................................................................................................................. 13 Figure 9. Close-up photograph of interlocking grain aggregations ...................................................................... 14 Figure 10. Photographs showing cracks on the southeast and northwest corners of the tomb die ....................... 14 Figure 11. Photograph showing crack across the north elevation of the die ........................................................ 15 Figure 12. Photograph showing crack across west elevation of the die ................................................................ 15 Figure 13. Photographs showing cracks on south elevation of the die .................................................................. 16 Figure 14. Photographs showing cracks on the east elevation of the die .............................................................. 16 Figure 15. Photograph showing fractures on the bottom of the northwest corner of the ....................................... 17 Figure 16. Schematic projection of fracture planes in the die ................................................................................ 18 Table Table 1. Dimensions of the rough Haines block and of finished die (Raphael, 2004). .............................................2 iii Comments on the Yule Marble Haines Block— Potential Replacement, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery By Victor G. Mossotti Abstract Marble for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery was cut from the Colorado Yule Marble Quarry in 1931. Although anecdotal reports suggest that cracks were noticed in the main section of the monument shortly after its installation at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, detailed documentation of the extent of cracking did not appear until 1963. Although debate continues as to whether the main section of the Tomb of the Unknowns monument should be repaired or replaced, Mr. John S. Haines of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, in anticipation of the permanent closing of the Yule Quarry, donated a 58-ton block of Yule Marble, the so-called Haines block, as a potential backup. The brief study reported here was conducted during mid-summer 2009 at the behest of the superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery. The field team entered the subterranean Yule Marble Quarry with the Chief Extraction Engineer in order to contrast the method used for extraction of the Haines block with the method that was probably used to extract the marble block that is now cracked. Based on surficial inspection and shallow coring of the Haines block, and on the nature of crack propagation in Yule Marble as judged by close inspection of a large collection of surrogate Yule Marble blocks, the team found the block to be structurally sound and cosmetically equivalent to the marble used for the current monument. If the Haines block were needed, it would be an appropriate replacement for the existing cracked section of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Monument. Introduction The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was unveiled on April 9, 1931, although the remains of an unknown U.S. soldier from World War I were laid to rest at the location a decade earlier. A report in 1963 first documented the occurrence of cracks in the tomb monument, though the cracks probably existed well before that date. As the cracks have continually grown, now reaching around the entire Tomb, debate also continues as to the cause of the cracks and strategies for dealing with the cracked monument. As this polemic has evolved, Mr. John S. Haines from Glenwood Springs, Colorado, donated a block of Yule Marble to replace the main rectangular block of the existing monument that separates the cap of the monument from the base; this architectural element is referred to as a die. When the 57-ton Haines block was cut from the Yule Marble Quarry in Colorado in 2004, exceptional practices were followed in the removal and transport of the block to minimize physical impacts that might trigger structural defects. The chronology of the exhaustive effort at the quarry has been formally documented by Bailey (2009). Figure 1 shows the Haines block at its present location near the Yule Marble Quarry. The dimensions of the rough block and of the finished monument are given in table 1. Table 1. Dimensions of the rough Haines block and of finished die (Raphael, 2004). Rough Finished (m) (m) Height 1.8 1.577 Width 1.7 1.991 Length 4.5 3.733 The brief study reported here was supported by the Office of the Superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery/Department of Defense (OS/ANC/DOD). The report was first delivered as an administrative field report to the OS/ANC in 2009, and was only recently released for publication. The field party entered the subterranean Yule Quarry with the Chief Extraction Engineer in order to understand the potential physical shock delivered to a large marble block during extraction and transport. The field team also closely examined the Haines block in the storage area to provide a qualitative assessment of structural stability of the block when transported, carved, and exposed to the weathering conditions at ANC. An attendant purpose is an inquiry into the possible