All of these photos are of stones found in Middleborough. The stones are all SLATE,which is a fine-grained, sedimentary rock composed of layers of compressed clay. When the slate is used as a gravestone, the parallel layers become perpendicular to the ground. "Delamination" is when those layers separate from the main body of the stone, which is a problem if those layers include etchings or inscriptions. "Flaking" is a smaller form of delamination. LICHEN is a composite organism composed of algae and fungus. The can grow anywhere, but really like Middleborough's slate gravestones. The problem arises from the rooks of the fungi penetrating the layers of sediment. The growth of the lichens reduces the slate to soil.

The lichens can be removed, but we need your help to get the job done. Please, become a Volunteer.