Discusses in detail the kinetics of the acid dissolution of crystallized copper sulfates and indicates that in a low pH environment, common to polluted urban industrial settings, acidified copper sulfate solutions are readily produced from the corrosion crust of bronze objects. In particular, brochantite and antlerite can be expected to develop. The aggressive copper sulfate solutions are probably responsible for part of the growth of the cuprite crust based on the reaction between additional copper metal, hydrogen ions, and oxygen. The dissolution of copper sulfate-rich materials on the crust exterior is initially accompanied by a rise in pH. At the surface of weathered sulfate-rich crusts on copper alloys the work suggests that ionic dissolution reactions predominate, rather than electrochemical reactions such as the dissolution of cuprite or copper. The direct electrochemical dissolution of copper or cuprite is hindered by the thickness and convoluted nature of the corrosion crust. Previous models for these phenomena have suggested that bulk aqueous phase reactions occur throughout the corrosion films on copper alloys. The present work indicates that the outermost sulfate-rich layers will supply ions to the aqueous front from heavy rain or other condensation and then serve as sites for solidification as the aqueous phase dries out and evaporates at the surface. The zones of stability predicted for antlerite and bronchantite at 20°C by thermodynamic calculations for the copper-sulfuric acid water system have not been observed for well crystallized mineral species. It is likely that weathered corrosion films in polluted atmospheres are even less well characterized, particularly with respect to observable events of dissolution and precipitation in a corrosion crust. In the analysis of corrosion processes in sulfate-rich environments, strict adherence to thermodynamic considerations appears to produce a misleading picture of the sequence and nature of the precipitation and dissolution of the corrosion layers, in which a number of complex hydrated species may exist. This research suggests therefore that the usefulness of antlerite as an indicator of aggressive corrosion is of limited validity. -- AATA