Use of Radon and CO 2 for the Identification and Analysis of Short-Term Fluctuations in the Ventilation of the Polychrome Room Inside the Altamira Cave

Carlos Sainz, Julia Fábrega, Daniel Rábago, Santiago Celaya, Alicia Fernandez, Ismael Fuente, Enrique Fernandez, Jorge Quindos, Jose Luis Arteche and Luis Quindos
Additional contact information
Carlos Sainz: Radon Group, University of Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain
Julia Fábrega: Radon Group, University of Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain
Daniel Rábago: Radon Group, University of Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain
Santiago Celaya: Radon Group, University of Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain
Alicia Fernandez: Radon Group, University of Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain
Ismael Fuente: Radon Group, University of Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain
Enrique Fernandez: Radon Group, University of Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain
Jorge Quindos: Radon Group, University of Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain
Jose Luis Arteche: Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET), 39012 Santander, Spain
Luis Quindos: Radon Group, University of Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 6, 1-11

Abstract: A study is presented on rapid episodes of air exchange in the Polychrome Room of the Altamira Cave (Cantabria, Spain) using continuous monitoring of radon and CO 2 tracer gases, as well as environmental parameters such as internal and external air temperature. For this, criteria have been developed to carry out an inventory of these types of events during the 2015–2020 period. Most of the degassing-recharging events occur over several hours or days, especially during spring and autumn. This means that the room can be significantly ventilated during these short periods of time, posing an exchange of energy and matter with potential impact in the preservation of the rock art present inside. In addition, the hypothesis that temperature gradients between the internal and external atmosphere is one of the main factors that induces degassing has been tested. To this end, correlation analysis has been carried out between the different magnitudes involved in this study, such as radon and CO 2 concentrations, and air temperature gradients. A total of 37 degassing-recharging events have been analyzed for the 5 year studied period. The distribution of the duration of the events have been described, as well as that of the correlations between the degassing and recharge stages of each event, showing significant values of r coefficients for the correlation with temperature gradients between the internal and external atmosphere.

Keywords: radon; CO 2; tracer; rock art; cave (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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