Weathering Processes on Sandstone Painting and Carving Surfaces at Prehistoric Rock Sites in Southern Spain

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Título: Weathering Processes on Sandstone Painting and Carving Surfaces at Prehistoric Rock Sites in Southern Spain
Autor/es: Cañaveras, Juan C. | Sanz-Rubio, Enrique | Sánchez Moral, Sergio
Grupo/s de investigación o GITE: Petrología Aplicada
Centro, Departamento o Servicio: Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra y del Medio Ambiente
Palabras clave: Sandstone weathering | Chemical weathering | Rock shelter | Rock art
Área/s de conocimiento: Petrología y Geoquímica
Fecha de publicación: 25-may-2022
Editor: MDPI
Cita bibliográfica: Cañaveras JC, Sanz-Rubio E, Sánchez-Moral S. Weathering Processes on Sandstone Painting and Carving Surfaces at Prehistoric Rock Sites in Southern Spain. Applied Sciences. 2022; 12(11):5330. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12115330
Resumen: The sandstones which constitute the host rock for the prehistoric artwork in the Rock Groups of Tajo de las Figuras and Peñas de Cabrera (southern Spain) show a serious degree of alteration, due both to natural processes and those related to anthropogenic and animal activity. A detailed study was carried out on the petrological and compositional characteristics of the sandstones (fresh and altered rock) in both rock groups, and on the geological and climatological characteristics of the area in which they are located. The sandstones have very similar petrological and compositional characteristics in both areas. This likeness causes the nature of the natural weathering processes to be similar in the rock areas studied. These processes can be divided in terms of the predominant mechanisms of alteration into three inter-related categories: mechanical weathering, chemical weathering, and bio-induced alteration processes. However, the different climatic conditions of the areas in which the two rock areas are located directly influences the intensity of these processes. The precipitation and the range of temperature variation with heavy winter frosts in the area of El Tajo de las Figuras are significantly higher than in the area of Peñas de Cabrera; this translates into a higher rate of weathering at El Tajo de las Figuras. Regarding the anthropogenic action, two types of influence on the deterioration can be distinguished: a direct one, which consists of scouring and wetting of the walls in order to increase the chromatic contrast; and an indirect one, which is the extraction of blocks of sandstone in the upper part of rock shelters, which in turn encourages the development of the chemical weathering processes.
Patrocinador/es: This study forms part of the research agreement “Study and diagnosis of the archaeological groups and deposits of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia in their geomorphological, biological and climatic contexts” financed by the Culture Council, Junta of Andalusia (Spain).
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10045/124501
ISSN: 2076-3417
DOI: 10.3390/app12115330
Idioma: eng
Tipo: info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Derechos: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Revisión científica: si
Versión del editor: https://doi.org/10.3390/app12115330
Aparece en las colecciones:INV - PETRA - Artículos de Revistas

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