https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-024-05023-3
Regular Article
Analysis of evaporation–condensation cycles at archaeological earthen sites preserved under high-humidity conditions
1
Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology, Zhejiang University, 310028, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China
2
Hangzhou Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City World Heritage Monitoring and Management Center, 311115, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China
3
Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, 310027, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China
Received:
6
November
2023
Accepted:
19
February
2024
Published online:
2
March
2024
Protecting damp earthen sites poses significant challenges. The establishment of a high-humidity environment is often considered a preferred solution to mitigate moisture evaporation and prevent issues such as cracking, efflorescence, and pulverization. However, the long-term stability of this strategy remains uncertain. Understanding the water phase transition at the soil–air interface is crucial to investigating the role of humidity in earthen site preservation and assessing the need for further optimization of the preservation environment. This study focuses on the Liangzhu Laohuling Dam site which is maintained under a high-humidity environment. Key environmental parameters, such as soil–air interface temperature and surface relative humidity, were continuously monitored to calculate the evaporation and condensation volumes over a year. The results indicated that the condensation volume at the earthen site, in a high-humidity environment, exceeds the evaporation volume, indicating the efficacy of such environments in maintaining the moisture content. Furthermore, attributed to variations in ambient outdoor temperatures, the durations of evaporation and condensation exhibited distinct seasonal patterns. During colder months, adjusting the temperature of the site hall appropriately is a method for intervening in the evaporation–condensation cycle. This intervention contributes to the extended stability of the earthen site over prolonged periods.
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-024-05023-3.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
