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Full-Text Articles in Earth Sciences

Airflow Dynamics In Wind Cave And Jewel Cave: How Do Barometric Caves Breathe?, Annika K. Gomell, Andreas Pflitsch Oct 2022

Airflow Dynamics In Wind Cave And Jewel Cave: How Do Barometric Caves Breathe?, Annika K. Gomell, Andreas Pflitsch

International Journal of Speleology

Recent research on air pressure propagation through barometric caves has revealed various speleoclimatological processes, which cause a more complex relationship between surface air pressure changes and resulting pressure gradients between cave and surface air than previously assumed. So far, however, studies on barometric cave airflow have only been based on surface air pressure measurements. Thus, this study investigates and compares airflow at the openings of Wind Cave and Jewel Cave – two major barometric cave systems in South Dakota, USA – as a response to surface air pressure changes and air pressure gradients. Based on high-resolution long-term air pressure measurements …


Modeling Air Pressure Propagation Through Wind Cave And Jewel Cave: How Can Air Pressure Signals Inside Barometric Caves Be Predicted From Surface Pressure Measurements?, Annika K. Gomell, Andreas Pflitsch Apr 2022

Modeling Air Pressure Propagation Through Wind Cave And Jewel Cave: How Can Air Pressure Signals Inside Barometric Caves Be Predicted From Surface Pressure Measurements?, Annika K. Gomell, Andreas Pflitsch

International Journal of Speleology

Recent speleoclimatological research has shed new light on air pressure dynamics inside barometric caves by identifying pressure-modifying processes and resulting systematic differences between cave and surface air pressure. Based on these new findings, a multi- step quantitative model is developed and explored to predict air pressure inside Wind Cave and Jewel Cave – two major barometric cave systems in the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA – from external surface measurements. Therefore, each identified speleoclimatological pressure process is translated into a mathematical operation. Model evaluation based on Pearson correlation and mean (absolute) deviation between model outputs and control measurements yields …


Low Impact Sampling Of Speleothems – Reconciling Scientific Study With Cave Conservation, Claire L.V. Macgregor, John C. Hellstrom, Jon D. Woodhead, Russell N. Drysdale, Rolan S. Eberhard Nov 2021

Low Impact Sampling Of Speleothems – Reconciling Scientific Study With Cave Conservation, Claire L.V. Macgregor, John C. Hellstrom, Jon D. Woodhead, Russell N. Drysdale, Rolan S. Eberhard

International Journal of Speleology

Speleothems are increasingly valued as important paleoclimate archives and yet the removal of samples from caves can come at a cost to natural heritage, impacting delicate environments with limited mechanisms for repair. Conservation of cave environments is a key responsibility for scientists and, with this in mind, we are working to develop and implement techniques that allow us to extract valuable scientific data, with minimal impact. In this study, we demonstrate the utility of low-impact reconnaissance dating surveys on caves in southern Tasmania and southwest Western Australia as a precursor to the removal of stalagmites for paleoclimate reconstruction. Small flakes …


Continuous Color Model As A Tool To Improve Speleothem Age Model Development, Celia Campa-Bousoño, Ángel García-Pérez, Ana Moreno, Miguel Iglesias, Hai Cheng, R Lawrence Edwards, Heather Stoll Oct 2021

Continuous Color Model As A Tool To Improve Speleothem Age Model Development, Celia Campa-Bousoño, Ángel García-Pérez, Ana Moreno, Miguel Iglesias, Hai Cheng, R Lawrence Edwards, Heather Stoll

International Journal of Speleology

Because they can archive a variety of geochemical proxies and be precisely and accurately dated with the U-Th decay series chronometer, stalagmites are widely used for paleoclimate reconstructions. However, limitations in the use of this chronometer arise because U-Th dating is analytically time consuming, expensive, and requires a relatively large sample size. These limitations restrict the number of absolute dates usually obtained, which can result in significant uncertainties in the age model and inhibit the ability to archive high resolution records of environmental variability, particularly in those stalagmites where there are variations in growth rate not constrained by U-Th dates. …


Air Pressure Propagation Through Wind Cave And Jewel Cave: How Do Pressure Waves Travel Through Barometric Caves?, Annika K. Gomell, Daniel C. Austin, Marc J. Ohms, Andreas Pflitsch Sep 2021

Air Pressure Propagation Through Wind Cave And Jewel Cave: How Do Pressure Waves Travel Through Barometric Caves?, Annika K. Gomell, Daniel C. Austin, Marc J. Ohms, Andreas Pflitsch

International Journal of Speleology

In barometric caves, air pressure gradients between the outside atmosphere and the cave induce strong bidirectional compensating currents, which control almost all elements of speleoclimatology, including air temperature, humidity, and CO2 dynamics. Therefore, this study set out to investigate air pressure propagation through Wind Cave and Jewel Cave – two major barometric cave systems in the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA. Based on high-resolution air pressure data from both the surface and several measurement sites inside the caves, four systematic changes of pressure waves during their journey through the caves and their related speleoclimatological processes were identified and …


Influence Of Some Climatic Elements On Radon Concentration In Saeva Dupka Cave, Bulgaria, Peter Nojarov, Petar Stefanov, Karel Turek Dec 2020

Influence Of Some Climatic Elements On Radon Concentration In Saeva Dupka Cave, Bulgaria, Peter Nojarov, Petar Stefanov, Karel Turek

International Journal of Speleology

This study reveals the influence of some climatic elements on radon concentration in Saeva Dupka Cave, Bulgaria. The research is based mainly on statistical methods. Radon concentration in the cave is determined by two main mechanisms. The first one is through penetration of radon from soil and rocks around the cave (present all year round, but has leading role during the warm half of the year). The second one is through thermodynamic exchange of air between inside of the cave and outside atmosphere (cold half of the year). Climatic factors that affect radon concentration in the cave are temperatures (air, …


Cave Airflow Mechanism Of A Crevice-Type Cave: A Case Study From Czechia, Martin Kašing, Jan Lenart Apr 2020

Cave Airflow Mechanism Of A Crevice-Type Cave: A Case Study From Czechia, Martin Kašing, Jan Lenart

International Journal of Speleology

At present, crevice-type caves are investigated mainly by means of geomorphic and geophysical methods. Microclimatic research of this type of caves is underrepresented and is often limited to temperature and humidity measurement only. Yet, microclimatic research of such caves can significantly help in the management and conservation of caves, speleological exploration or analysis of speleothems. Being the first ever research of ventilation within a crevice-type cave, a complex analysis of cave ventilation was performed within the Velká Ondrášova Cave, a crevice-type cave in the Outer Western Carpathians, Czechia. Long-term temperature recording, airflow tracing within the cave, and a total of …


Cave Dripwater Isotopic Signals Related To The Altitudinal Gradient Of Mount-Lebanon: Implication For Speleothem Studies, Carole Nehme, Sophie Verheyden, Fadi H. Nader, Jocelyne Adjizian-Gerard, Dominique Genty, Kevin De Bont, Benedicte Minster, Ghada Salem, David Verstraten, Philippe Clayes Mar 2019

Cave Dripwater Isotopic Signals Related To The Altitudinal Gradient Of Mount-Lebanon: Implication For Speleothem Studies, Carole Nehme, Sophie Verheyden, Fadi H. Nader, Jocelyne Adjizian-Gerard, Dominique Genty, Kevin De Bont, Benedicte Minster, Ghada Salem, David Verstraten, Philippe Clayes

International Journal of Speleology

An important step in paleoclimate reconstructions based on vadose cave carbonate deposits or speleothems is to evaluate the sensitivity of the cave environment and speleothems to regional climate. Accordingly, we studied four caves, located at different altitudes along the western flank of Mount-Lebanon (Eastern Mediterranean). The objectives of this study are to identify the present-day variability in temperature, pCO2, and water isotopic composition and to assess the possible influence of the altitudinal gradient on cave drip waters and cave streams. We present here an overview of the spatial variability of rainwater based on local and regional data, and …


Isolution 1.0: An Isotope Evolution Model Describing The Stable Oxygen (Δ18O) And Carbon (Δ13C) Isotope Values Of Speleothems, Michael Deininger, Denis Scholz Jan 2019

Isolution 1.0: An Isotope Evolution Model Describing The Stable Oxygen (Δ18O) And Carbon (Δ13C) Isotope Values Of Speleothems, Michael Deininger, Denis Scholz

International Journal of Speleology

Stable oxygen and carbon isotope ratios (δ13C and δ18O) are the most applied climate and environmental proxies in speleothems allowing to infer past changes in cave drip water δ13C and δ18O related to climate and environmental variations from above the cave. However, disequilibrium isotope fractionation processes can modify δ13C and δ18O values in speleothems, which is in most cases difficult to estimate due to inter-dependencies on various cave specific parameter. To better understand the effect of these disequilibrium isotope fractionation processes proxy system models were developed in recent …


Caves As Observatories For Atmospheric Thermal Tides: An Example From Ascunsă Cave, Romania, Virgil Drăgușin, Laura Tîrlă, Nicoleta Cadicheanu, Vasile Ersek, Ionuț Mirea Feb 2018

Caves As Observatories For Atmospheric Thermal Tides: An Example From Ascunsă Cave, Romania, Virgil Drăgușin, Laura Tîrlă, Nicoleta Cadicheanu, Vasile Ersek, Ionuț Mirea

International Journal of Speleology

As part of a microclimate study at Ascunsă Cave, Romania, we used Gemini Tinytag Plus 2 data loggers to record cave air temperature variability. At one of the monitoring points we recognized the presence of semidiurnal cycles on the order of a few thousands of a degree Celsius that could be produced under the influence of the semidiurnal tidal components of the Sun (S2) or the Moon (M2). Using a Gemini Tinytag Plus 2 data logger with an external probe we measured core rock temperature and showed that it does not influence the cave air temperature …


Seasonal Temperature Variations Controlling Cave Ventilation Processes In Cueva Larga, Puerto Rico, Rolf Vieten, Amos Winter, Sophie Friederike Warken, Andrea Schrӧder-Ritzrau, Thomas E. Miller, Denis Scholz Oct 2016

Seasonal Temperature Variations Controlling Cave Ventilation Processes In Cueva Larga, Puerto Rico, Rolf Vieten, Amos Winter, Sophie Friederike Warken, Andrea Schrӧder-Ritzrau, Thomas E. Miller, Denis Scholz

International Journal of Speleology

Two years of cave monitoring investigate ventilation processes in Cueva Larga, a tropical cave in Puerto Rico. The cave is 1,440 m long with a large main passage (about 120,000 m3). Cave air pCO2 in the main passage varies seasonally, between 600 ppm in winter and 1,800 ppm in summer. The seasonal variability in cave pCO2 permits the estimation of a cave air exchange time of 36 ± 5 days and a winter ventilation rate of 3,300 ± 1,000 m3/day for the main cave passage. Calculations of virtual temperature and differences between cave and …


Comparing Flow-Through And Static Ice Cave Models For Shoshone Ice Cave, Kaj E. Williams, Christopher Mckay Feb 2015

Comparing Flow-Through And Static Ice Cave Models For Shoshone Ice Cave, Kaj E. Williams, Christopher Mckay

International Journal of Speleology

In this paper we suggest a new ice cave type: the “flow-through” ice cave. In a flow-through ice cave external winds blow into the cave and wet cave walls chill the incoming air to the wet-bulb temperature, thereby achieving extra cooling of the cave air. We have investigated an ice cave in Idaho, located in a lava tube that is reported to have airflow through porous wet end-walls and could therefore be a flow-through cave. We have instrumented the site and collected data for one year. In order to determine the actual ice cave type present at Shoshone, we have …


Cave Ventilation Is Influenced By Variations In The Co2-Dependent Virtual Temperature, Enrique P. Sánchez-Cañete, Penélope Serrano-Ortiz, Francisco Domingo, Andrew S. Kowalski Jan 2013

Cave Ventilation Is Influenced By Variations In The Co2-Dependent Virtual Temperature, Enrique P. Sánchez-Cañete, Penélope Serrano-Ortiz, Francisco Domingo, Andrew S. Kowalski

International Journal of Speleology

Dynamics and drivers of ventilation in caves are of growing interest for different fields of science. Accumulated CO2 in caves can be exchanged with the atmosphere, modifying the internal CO2 content, affecting stalagmite growth rates, deteriorating rupestrian paintings or creating new minerals. Current estimates of cave ventilation neglect the role of high CO2 concentrations in determining air density – approximated via the virtual temperature (Tv) –, affecting buoyancy and therefore the release or storage of CO2. Here we try to improve knowledge and understanding of cave ventilation through the use of T …