Investigation on Distribution Characteristics of Deterioration in Helan Pass Rock Arts

Abstract

The Helan Pass rock arts in Ningxia Province, China, have undergone severe decay and showed some typical forms of deterioration, including scaling off, crack, and collapse. These three forms of deterioration in the Tiger Town region to water-off were quantitatively counted to analyze their distribution characteristics. The statistical windows were used for crack studies to investigate distribution regularities of ten aspects such as attitude, class number, and spacing. The findings reveal that 17 of the 25 rock arts in the Helan Pass study area developed scaling off in the rock masses’ surfaces. A total of 130 cracks in the 19 statistical windows were located predominantly in the lower part of the mountain. In addition, 15 collapses occurred and were mostly in the upper part of the mountain. The crack locations with different filling types were concentrated. Further, the crack apertures were related to their filling types, and the apertures of siliceous filling cracks were generally larger, whereas the argillaceous filling cracks were mostly medium apertures. In addition, the apertures of grouting cracks were varied, and the apertures of nonfilling cracks were small.