Microclimatic characterization of a karstic cave: human impact on microenvironmental parameters of a prehistoric rock art cave (Candamo Cave, northern Spain) |
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Authors: | M Hoyos V Soler J C Cañaveras S Sánchez-Moral E Sanz-Rubio |
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Institution: | (1) Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, C.S.I.C., Jose Gutierrez Abascal 2, E-28006 Madrid, Spain, ES;(2) Instituto de Productos Naturales, C.S.I.C., E-38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain, ES |
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Abstract: | The Candamo Cave contains an important group of paleolithic paintings which have been seriously deteriorated due to mass tourism.
In this work, an analysis was carried out of different climatic parameters (CO2, temperature, humidity, 222Rn) during annual cycles with the cave closed to the public and during an experimental period of controlled visits. The effect
of visits on the geochemical characteristics of karstic water was also analyzed together with the cave ventilation.
The natural variations in the cave air CO2 were above 3000 ppm, the increase produced through visits was only 100–110 ppm and since the humidity is almost permanently
at saturation point, the critical parameter which limits the visitor capacity becomes air temperature. The temperature changes
during the annual cycle are of the order of 1 °C in the external part and less than 0.5 °C in the internal part of the cave
and a maximum increase of 0.13 °C was observed during the period of the visits. The 222Rn and CO2 concentration minimums in the summer period (July–October) show that this is the most propitious time for visits, since the
greatest ventilation is produced in the cave at this time and, therefore, the greatest capacity for recovery. The geochemistry
of the water, on the other hand, indicated that this is the period of the year in which processes of wall corrosion can be
most easily introduced, although this would be of limited magnitude. The visitor capacity calculated was 29 visitors/day.
Received: 29 August 1996 · Accepted: 23 June 1997 |
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Keywords: | Tourist cave Natural environmental changes Human-induced changes Visitor capacity |
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