Natural ventilation of the Paintings Room in the Altamira cave

Radon continuous monitoring in Altamira Cave (northern Spain) to assess user's annual effective dose

“…On the whole, the variation of the radon concentration during year measured in real time is in agreement that obtained by means of etched track radiometers, although the values obtained by these last detectors are slightly lower than those obtained by means of the continuous monitoring. Also, the monthly averages calculated from the values monitored continuously during 1997 show a variable trend of the concentration, similar to the one obtained by Ferna´ndez et al (1986) Ferna´ndez et al (1986). such as the Altamira Cave (Sa´nchez-Moral et al, 1999). The main differences are in the concentrations measured during the month of February, which can be related to the different methodologies used since the periodic sampling can coincide with short stages of high ventilation, as is the case of the end of the winter, and lead to anomalous data.…”

“…Previous researchers measured the 222 Rn concentration in the cave by means of periodic air sampling, focused on calculating exposure levels (Ferna´ndez et al, 1984) or ventilation rates in the cavity (Ferna´ndez et al, 1986). This work documents the importance of continuous shortterm radon monitoring to perform the correct calculations of annual effective dose for guides and visitors in tourist caves.…”

Spatial and time variations of radon-222 concentration in the atmosphere of a dead-end horizontal tunnel

“…An independent assessment of the air exchange rates would be important, through, for example, temperature measurements (Crouzeix et al, 2003;Perrier et al, 2004a,b) or the simultaneous monitoring of the CO 2 level (e.g. Fernandez et al, 1986). Dedicated tracer tests or sealing experiments may also provide significant additional constraints.…”

Falling through the cracks: The role of fractures in Earth‐atmosphere gas exchange

“…Historically, the process of gas exchange between soil and atmosphere has been assumed to occur by diffusion [Campbell and Norman, 1998], but enhanced to shallow depths by advective transport driven by wind and atmospheric pressure fluctuations [Massman et al, 1997;Weeks, 2001;Albert, 2002]. Atmospheric disturbances can also drive deep venting of fractures and bore holes in mountainous terrain [Weeks, 2001], caves [Fernandez et al, 1986] and tunnels [Thorstenson and Pollock, 1989]. While, these advective events are infrequent and depend upon local weather variability, this paper presents a daily recurring mechanism that vents cracks and fractures at rates that significantly exceed diffusive venting.…”