2023-12-13 06:34:35
The Great Wall of China, one of the 7 wonders of the world, was recently the subject of a study which reshuffled all the cards with regard to its composition and its resistance to natural hazards. Indeed, for years, it has been customary to believe that the natural vegetation of the famous monument is harmful to its structure.
However, a more in-depth study published by Science Advances highlights that the biocrusts, of which a large part of the wall is composed, help protect it from erosion.
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A real protective shield
Scientific research, carried out over three decades, reveals that the famous biocrusts – a kind of organic covering composed of bacteria, cyanobacteria, fungi and lichens – play a fundamental role in the stability of the wall.
In addition, the analyzes succeeded in proving that the natural layer covering certain areas makes it possible to “reduce porosity”water retention capacity, erosion as well as the salinity of the rammed earth — foundation of the structure.
“The dense biomass on the surface of the biocrusts serves as an anti-seepage layer, leading to the blocking of soil pores connecting the surface to the deeper substrate and thereby reducing porosity and water-holding capacity, helping to maintain a dry environment inside the heritage structure”underlines the study.
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As the publication suggests, this new knowledge opens a new avenue of reflection on the importance of nature on the potential protection of certain world monuments in arid zones. Especially when we know that climate change represents a threat for a number of cultural and historical gems of the world.
A fragile building
Although this study reveals a positive influence of biocrusts on the protection of the Chinese monument, it is important to specify that it was carried out over a segment of 600 kilometers and, as the investigation indicates, the contribution of these this “the conservation of the Great Wall remains unknown”.
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In addition to erosion, mass tourism and agricultural activities also contribute to making the thousand-year-old monument more vulnerable. In 2019, the Chinese government recalled that the oldest parts of the wall had disappeared while affirming the need to preserve certain “portions” of the building.
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