Estacionalitat dels paràmetres atmosfèrics de la Cova de sa Font (sa Dragonera): un registre detallat del cicle anual dels valors de temperatura, CO2 i O2

High CO2 concentrations are common in caves from the Balearic Islands and have been the subject of research for years in a site that can be considered paradigmatic: Cova de sa Font, located on the small island of sa Dragonera. As a complement to previous research carried out since 2014, continuous recording devices of temperature, CO2, and O2 were installed in the cave to gain a detailed understanding of its atmospheric dynamics. Data recorded between April and December 2023 reveal a remarkable but gradual rise in CO2 levels during late spring and early summer, reaching concentrations above 60,000 ppm throughout the summer period and even reaching estimated values above 70,000 ppm of CO2 lasting to the beginning of November. The O2 data record shows a very strong inverse correlation with CO2 content, with minimum values during the summer when the lowest O2 concentrations are reached, below 14.5 %. With the influxes of cold air during autumn, the cave ceases to be a confined atmospheric environment, so that CO2 levels dropped from 60,000 to 2,000 ppm in less than three days by the end of November 2023, resulting in a complete renewal of the cave's air in winter. The available cave temperature records and meteorological data allow us to interpret in detail the particularities of the atmospheric dynamics of Cova de sa Font, suggesting a model of the cave's atmosphere behavior that acts as a summer cold air trap, which is responsible for the confinement and high summer concentrations of CO2.