The uncovering of several shipwrecks during the excavation of the Marmaray Rail Tube Tunnel Project in Istanbul provides an important opportunity to evaluate waterlogged woods buried for centuries. Identification of these woods showed that a variety of species was used in the ships. One shipwreck (a galley) from the Yenikapı Marmaray was examined using electron microscopy. The micrographs revealed a wide range in the degree of deterioration in the samples. The results confirmed earlier observations that erosion bacteria and soft rot were the main degraders of waterlogged softwoods and hardwoods.

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