Temperature variations in caves induced by atmospheric pressure variations—Part 1: Transfer functions and their interpretation
According to thermodynamics, atmospheric pressure variations (APV) cause temperature variations in air. However, such variations are difficult to observe, except in thermally stable environments such as underground cavities. We have studied the properties of these temperature variations in four natu...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Geosystems and Geoenvironment |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772883822001200 |
| _version_ | 1827971903145377792 |
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| author | Frédéric Perrier François Bourges Frédéric Girault Jean-Louis Le Mouël Dominique Genty Bruno Lartiges Rémi Losno Stéphane Bonnet |
| author_facet | Frédéric Perrier François Bourges Frédéric Girault Jean-Louis Le Mouël Dominique Genty Bruno Lartiges Rémi Losno Stéphane Bonnet |
| author_sort | Frédéric Perrier |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | According to thermodynamics, atmospheric pressure variations (APV) cause temperature variations in air. However, such variations are difficult to observe, except in thermally stable environments such as underground cavities. We have studied the properties of these temperature variations in four natural caves in France, where continuous time-series have been collected since 1998: Esparros, Aven d'Orgnac, Pech Merle and Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Caves, the last two containing unique prehistoric wall paintings. The pressure to air temperature transfer function (TF), evaluated from 8 × 10−7 to 8 × 10−4 Hz, strongly depends on frequency; its modulus, at the barometric tide S2 (12 h), varies from 2 to 14 × 10−3 °C/hPa. While the TFs show pluriannual stability, seasonal variations are observed when sufficiently long data sets are available. Rock surface temperature is also affected by APV and we extract the air to rock surface temperature TF at Esparros, Chauvet and Pech Merle Caves. The observed TFs are accounted for by an improved analytical model including gas adiabatic compressibility, heat exchange with the rock, heat diffusion in the rock, phase changes of water at the rock surface and an advective term due to barometric pumping motion in the air volume. This model has three free parameters: the effective rock surface to air volume ratio, the time constant of heat exchanges and the effective adiabatic coefficient of cavity air. It is sufficient to account for the various situations observed in natural caves. Using this model, the observed TFs can be interpreted; they reflect the type of thermodynamics active at a given location, in particular the presence of barometric winds, but the actual values of parameters remain difficult to predict. Thus, temperature variations induced by APV emerge as a fundamental tool to characterize underground environments, relevant in some cases for cave heritage preservation, illustrating the coupled processes active in the Critical Zone. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:14:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-824c0baa6f8842c28d19a0c63040763b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2772-8838 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:14:47Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geosystems and Geoenvironment |
| spelling | doaj.art-824c0baa6f8842c28d19a0c63040763b2023-04-06T06:15:17ZengElsevierGeosystems and Geoenvironment2772-88382023-05-0122100145Temperature variations in caves induced by atmospheric pressure variations—Part 1: Transfer functions and their interpretationFrédéric Perrier0François Bourges1Frédéric Girault2Jean-Louis Le Mouël3Dominique Genty4Bruno Lartiges5Rémi Losno6Stéphane Bonnet7Université Paris Cité, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, CNRS, Paris F-75005, France; Corresponding author: Pr. Frédéric Perrier, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, FranceGéologie Environnement Conseil, 30 rue de la République, Saint-Girons F-09200, FranceUniversité Paris Cité, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, CNRS, Paris F-75005, FranceUniversité Paris Cité, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, CNRS, Paris F-75005, FranceEnvironnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac Cedex F-33615, FranceUniversité de Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, Géosciences Environnement-Toulouse, Toulouse F-31400, FranceUniversité Paris Cité, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, CNRS, Paris F-75005, FranceUniversité de Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, Géosciences Environnement-Toulouse, Toulouse F-31400, FranceAccording to thermodynamics, atmospheric pressure variations (APV) cause temperature variations in air. However, such variations are difficult to observe, except in thermally stable environments such as underground cavities. We have studied the properties of these temperature variations in four natural caves in France, where continuous time-series have been collected since 1998: Esparros, Aven d'Orgnac, Pech Merle and Chauvet-Pont d'Arc Caves, the last two containing unique prehistoric wall paintings. The pressure to air temperature transfer function (TF), evaluated from 8 × 10−7 to 8 × 10−4 Hz, strongly depends on frequency; its modulus, at the barometric tide S2 (12 h), varies from 2 to 14 × 10−3 °C/hPa. While the TFs show pluriannual stability, seasonal variations are observed when sufficiently long data sets are available. Rock surface temperature is also affected by APV and we extract the air to rock surface temperature TF at Esparros, Chauvet and Pech Merle Caves. The observed TFs are accounted for by an improved analytical model including gas adiabatic compressibility, heat exchange with the rock, heat diffusion in the rock, phase changes of water at the rock surface and an advective term due to barometric pumping motion in the air volume. This model has three free parameters: the effective rock surface to air volume ratio, the time constant of heat exchanges and the effective adiabatic coefficient of cavity air. It is sufficient to account for the various situations observed in natural caves. Using this model, the observed TFs can be interpreted; they reflect the type of thermodynamics active at a given location, in particular the presence of barometric winds, but the actual values of parameters remain difficult to predict. Thus, temperature variations induced by APV emerge as a fundamental tool to characterize underground environments, relevant in some cases for cave heritage preservation, illustrating the coupled processes active in the Critical Zone.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772883822001200Atmospheric pressureNatural ventilationPreservationBarometric pumpingCritical ZonePhase changes |
| spellingShingle | Frédéric Perrier François Bourges Frédéric Girault Jean-Louis Le Mouël Dominique Genty Bruno Lartiges Rémi Losno Stéphane Bonnet Temperature variations in caves induced by atmospheric pressure variations—Part 1: Transfer functions and their interpretation Geosystems and Geoenvironment Atmospheric pressure Natural ventilation Preservation Barometric pumping Critical Zone Phase changes |
| title | Temperature variations in caves induced by atmospheric pressure variations—Part 1: Transfer functions and their interpretation |
| title_full | Temperature variations in caves induced by atmospheric pressure variations—Part 1: Transfer functions and their interpretation |
| title_fullStr | Temperature variations in caves induced by atmospheric pressure variations—Part 1: Transfer functions and their interpretation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Temperature variations in caves induced by atmospheric pressure variations—Part 1: Transfer functions and their interpretation |
| title_short | Temperature variations in caves induced by atmospheric pressure variations—Part 1: Transfer functions and their interpretation |
| title_sort | temperature variations in caves induced by atmospheric pressure variations part 1 transfer functions and their interpretation |
| topic | Atmospheric pressure Natural ventilation Preservation Barometric pumping Critical Zone Phase changes |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772883822001200 |
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