Hydrology Commons^™

Hypogenic Caves Of Syracuse Area, Sicily (Italy): Geomorphological Evidence Of Co2 Degassing, Fresh-Salt Water Mixing, And Late Condensation Corrosion, Philippe Audra, Jean-Yves Bigot, Didier Cailhol, Pierre Camps, Ilenia M. D'Angeli, Hai Cheng, R. Lawrence Edwards, Fernando Gàzquez-Sanchez, Gabriella Koltai, Giuliana Madonia, Jean-Claude Nobécourt, Marjan Temovski, Marco Vattano, Jo De Waele

International Journal of Speleology

Many caves in Sicily have been shown to have a sulfuric acid or other hypogenic origin. We studied three caves (Palombara, Scrivilleri, Monello) near Syracuse (eastern Sicily), in an area that was strongly uplifted and faulted, creating multiple Pleistocene marine terraces. Mineralogy, stable isotopes and dating methods (paleomagnetism, U/Th) were used to characterize cave sediments, some of which were related to the initial hypogenic phase (Fe and Mn oxides, calcite spar), others were introduced by surface runoff later. Many other sediments are the result of in situ weathering, such as lime sands produced by condensation-corrosion processes on the calcarenite walls. …

Hypogene Speleogenesis In Carbonates By Cooling Hydrothermal Flow: The Case Of Mt. Berenike Caves, Israel, Roi Roded, Boaz Langford, Einat Aharonov, Piotr Szymczak, Micka Ullman, Shemesh Yaaran, Boaz Lazar, Amos Frumkin

International Journal of Speleology

The Berenike hypogenic cave system near Lake Kinneret, Israel, provides a valuable case study for investigating the recently proposed Confined-Cooling-Flow (CCF) speleogenesis model. Field and speleological surveys, along with existing research, are used to provide a thorough analysis. The CCF model relies on a simple thermo-hydro-chemical scenario, involving the rise of CO2-rich hydrothermal fluids discharging into a confined layer. The cooling of these CO2-rich fluids turns them into aggressive solutions due to the inverse relation between temperature and solubility of carbonates (retrograde solubility). Previous geochemical and numerical analyses of the CCF model predict localized and persistent dissolution and speleogenesis on …

Revealing The Ongoing Speleogenetic Processes In An Underwater Cave Through The Application Of Natural Radionuclides And Stable Isotopes: Case Study From The Hypogene Buda Thermal Karst, Anita Erőss, Katalin Hegedűs-Csondo, Petra Kovács-Bodor, Dénes Szieberth, Ákos Horváth, György Czuppon, Andrea Mindszenty Dr, Szabolcs Leél-Őssy, Judit Mádl-Szőnyi

International Journal of Speleology

The underwater Molnár János Cave in the hypogene Buda Thermal Karst system (Budapest, Hungary) provides a unique site to study the effects of flowing groundwater and the interplay of fluids of different origin. The aim of the present study is to characterize the groundwater in different parts of the cave with temporal resolution, hence describe the recent speleogenetic processes within the cave. This study uses natural radioisotopes (uranium, radium, and radon) besides stable isotope ratios of oxygen and hydrogen to identify the different fluid components. The results show that the majority of the cave is situated in the flow path …

Role Of Hypogenesis In The Evolution Of Karst In The Taurus Mountains Range, Turkey, Serdar C. Bayari, Naciye Nur Özyurt, Lütfi Nazik, Koray A. Törk, Noyan İ. Güner, Emrah Pekkan, Pınar Avcı

International Journal of Speleology

Field observations and laboratory data collected from the Taurus Mountains Range, Turkey during the last two decades provided evidence for the link between the evolution of hypogene karst and the geodynamic history. Major evidence includes; carbonate-hosted secondary ore deposits that are converted from primarily hypogene minerals by epigene, oxygen-rich groundwater circulating at local to intermediate depths. Another piece of evidence of hypogene karst in the Tauride is the Kırkgöz springs’ huge submerged cave/conduit system, which formed the Antalya Travertine Plateau, which is the world’s largest deposit precipitated by cool karst groundwater. The obruks in central Tauride are giant collapse dolines …

Characterization Of Surface Geology And Hydrogeology In The Upper Ulua River Basin, Honduras, C. Renee Sparks, Issac J. Jacques, Cheryl L. Verbree, Thomas J. Timmermans, Stuart Dykstra

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

This research includes a hydrogeologic assessment in and around La Union, Honduras to determine the contribution of groundwater to the surface water system and understand the geological control of groundwater storage and movement. Field methods were employed and focused on spring characterization, geochemical signatures, and structural data. Field data was gathered, and locations determined using cellular-integrated GPS signal and the Fulcrum mapping software mobile application. During the summer of 2017, data on 111 geologic points and 34 water points were collected to understand the hydrogeology of the region. Streams and springs were monitored for pH, flow characteristics and conductance as …

On The Genesis Of Aluminum-Rich Speleothems In A Granite Cave Of Nw Spain, Jorge Sanjurjo-Sanchez, Carlos Arce Chamorro, Juan Ramón Vidal Romaní, Marcos Vaqueiro-Rodríguez, Victor Barrientos, Joeri Kaal

International Journal of Speleology

Granite massifs often contain caves, with dimensions ranging from a few meters up to 1,000 m, also referred to as pseudokarst. The speleothems in such caves are mostly composed of either Si-rich (commonly opal-A) or Al-rich authigenic mineraloids. Whereas the formation and geochemical composition of opal-A biospeleothems have been studied and are fairly well understood, knowledge on the Al-rich analogues is scarce. This work reports for the first time a study on the composition, accretion process, age and growth rate of an Al-rich speleothem type flowstone from the A Trapa Cave System (Galicia, NW Spain), developed in a granite cave. …

Identification Of Mined Areas That May Contribute To Water Quality Degradation At Hobet Coal Mine, West Virginia, Brian P. Murphy

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

No abstract provided.

Evolution Of Noble Gas And Water Isotopes Along The Regional Groundwater Flow Path Of The Konya Closed Basin, Turkey, N. Nur Ozyurt, C. Serdar Bayari

International Journal of Speleology

Noble gas and water isotope compositions of regional groundwater were investigated along two transects in the Konya Closed Basin (KCB) of central Turkey. According to the ³He/⁴He versus Ne/He plot of samples, crust (up to 86%) and mantle (up to 26%) appear to be the primary and secondary sources of dissolved He in groundwater, respectively. After the beginning of both transects where the flow domain is confined, both ³He and ⁴He accumulate steadily in groundwater. Thereafter, the intermediate recharge from the surface in the unconfined part of regional flow system disrupts the steady accumulation trend …

Interpreting The Origin And Evolution Of ‘Karst’ Features From A Siliceous Hydrothermal Terrane: A Case Study From The Upper Geyser Basin In Yellowstone National Park, Usa, Kevin W. Blackwood, Lainee A. Sanders, Stacy I. Gantt-Blackwood

International Journal of Speleology

The Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park occurs over a siliceous hydrothermal terrane containing numerous hot springs and geysers. The pool and vent-conduit geometries of these hydrothermal features share a resemblance to conventional karst features known from other rock types, suggesting karst processes could be responsible for their origin and/or evolution. Hypogene speleogenesis is a cave-forming process in which the formation of caves is decoupled from and occurs independently of surface recharge. The geologic setting for hypogene speleogenesis typically occurs at the distal end of regional groundwater systems wherein the hydrogeology is manifested by ascending fluids and/or by geochemical …

Extremely High Diversity Of Sulfate Minerals In Caves Of The Irazú Volcano (Costa Rica) Related To Crater Lake And Fumarolic Activity, Andrés Ulloa, Fernando Gázquez, Aurelio Sanz-Arranz, Jesús Medina, Fernando Rull, José María Calaforra, Guillermo E. Alvarado, María Martínez, Geoffroy Avard, J. Maarten De Moor, Jo De Waele

International Journal of Speleology

The caves of the Irazú volcano (Costa Rica), became accessible after the partial collapse of the NW sector of the Irazú volcano in 1994, offering the opportunity to investigate active minerogenetic processes in volcanic cave environments. We performed a detailed mineralogical and geochemical study of speleothems in the caves Cueva los Minerales and Cueva Los Mucolitos, both located in the northwest foothills of the main crater. Mineralogical analyses included X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy, while geochemical characterization used Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) coupled to Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). In addition, measurements of environmental parameters in the caves, …

Drip Water Measurements From Carlsbad Cavern: Implications Towards Paleoclimate Records Yielded From Evaporative-Zone Stalagmites, Victor J. Polyak, Jessica B.T. Rasmussen, Yemane Asmerom

International Journal of Speleology

Stalagmites can host numerous potential climate proxies (stable and radiogenic isotopes, trace elements, annual and non-annual banding, grayscale, growth hiatuses, mineral assemblage). Reproducibility and/or integration of proxy results between one or more stalagmites will become increasingly important, and ideally, climate records generated by multiple stalagmites from the same cave or cave room are expected to be near-identical. The reality is that stalagmites from the same cave room can yield differing results to some degree, especially in cave environment zones that are evaporative. Our drip water study in an evaporative shallow-depth cave environment in Carlsbad Cavern shows that adjacent drip sites …

Cave Monitoring In The Béke And Baradla Caves (Northeastern Hungary): Implications For The Conditions For The Formation Cave Carbonates, György Czuppon, Attila Demény, Szabolcs Leél-Őssy, Mihály Óvari, Mihály Molnár, József Stieber, Klaudia Kiss, Krisztina Kármán, Gergely Surányi, László Haszpra

International Journal of Speleology

In order to use speleothems in the reconstruction of past climate and environmental changes it is necessary to understand the environmental and hydrological processes that determine the physico-chemical conditions of carbonate precipitation and hence speleothem formation. Therefore, in this study an extended monitoring program was conducted in the Béke and Baradla caves located in the Aggtelek region (Northeastern Hungary). The studied caves are rich in speleothem and flowstone occurrences with great potential for paleoclimatology studies. The monitoring activity included measurements of atmospheric and cave temperatures, CO₂ concentration in cave air, as well as chemical and isotopic compositions of water …

Petrographical And Geochemical Changes In Bosnian Stalagmites And Their Palaeo-Environmental Significance, Veronica Chiarini, Isabelle Couchoud, Russell Drysdale, Petra Bajo, Simone Milanolo, Silvia Frisia, Alan Greig, John Hellstrom, Jo De Waele

International Journal of Speleology

Detailed petrographic observations have been coupled with trace element and δ¹³C - δ¹⁸O analyses in order to investigate their dynamics in two Holocene Bosnian speleothems. The potential of this multiproxy approach in providing a means to extract palaeo-environmental information from stalagmites whose stable isotope signals are noisy and without obvious trends has been tested. The studied stalagmites are mostly characterized by columnar microcrystalline fabric. At the sub-millimetre scale of lamination, different microcrystalline columnar sub-types (open and closed) have been detected and classified on the basis of the observed porosity and the crystallite size. The presence of …

Geochemical Processes And Controls Affecting Water Quality Of The Karst Area Of Big Creek Near Mt. Judea, Arkansas, V. Brahana, J. Nix, C. Kuyper, T. Turk, F. Usrey, S. Hodges, C. Bitting, K. Ficco, E. Pollock, R. Quick, B. Thompson, J. Murdoch

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Karst regions typically are considered to be vulnerable with respect to various land-use activities, owing to the intimate association of surface and groundwater and lack of contaminant attenuation provided by most karst aquifers. Inasmuch as the soluble rocks of the karst landscape can be dissolved to create large, rapid-flow zones that compete successfully with surface streams, groundwater and subsurface flow represent a much larger component of the hydrologic budget in karst regions than in areas where non-soluble rocks predominate. Karst areas typically are distinguished by being unique, but some general approaches can be applied to characterize the hydrology of the …

Quantitative Hermeneutics: Counting Forestructures On A Path From W.M. Davis To The Concept Of Multiple-Permeability Karst Aquifers, H. L. Vacher, Lee J. Florea

International Journal of Speleology

Hermeneutics is the theory of interpretation. One of its major components is recognizing prejudgments, or forestructures, that we bring to our objects of study. In this paper, we construct a historical narrative of the evolution of thinking about the role of caves in relation to groundwater flow in limestone, and we tabulate forestructures as they appear in the story. This account consists of three overlapping time periods: the before and after of an incident that repelled hydrogeologists and students of karst from each other in the middle of the 20^th century; a period, up to around the turn of …

A Soil Parameters Geodatabase For The Modeling Assessment Of Agricultural Conservation Practices Effects In The United States, Mauro Di Luzio, Martin L. Norfleet, Jeffrey G. Arnold, Jimmy R. Williams, James R. Kiniry

International Journal of Geospatial and Environmental Research

Soil parameters for hydrology modeling in cropland dominated areas, from the regional to local scale, are part of critical biophysical information whose deficiency may increase the uncertainty of simulated conservation effects and predicting potential. Despite this importance, soil physical and hydraulic parameters lack common, wide-coverage repositories combined to digital maps as required by various hydrology-based agricultural water quality models.

This paper describes the construction of a geoprocessing workflow and the resultant hydrology-structured soil hydraulic, physical, and chemical parameters geographic database for the entire United States, named US-SOILM-CEAP. This database is designed to store a-priori values for a suit of models, …

Groundwater Lowering And Stream Incision Rates In The Central Appalachian Mountains Of West Virginia, Usa, Gregory S. Springer, Holly A. Poston, Ben Hardt, Harold D. Rowe

International Journal of Speleology

Surface channel incision rates are of broad geomorphological interest because they set the boundary conditions for landscape change by affecting changes in local relief and hillslope angles. We report groundwater table lowering rates associated with subsurface Buckeye Creek and the surface channel of Spring Creek in southeastern West Virginia, USA. The mountainous watersheds have drainage areas of 14 km² and 171 km², respectively. The lowering rates are derived from U/Th-dating of stalagmites and the paleomagnetostratigraphy of clastic sediments in Buckeye Creek Cave. The oldest stalagmites have a minimum age of 0.54 Ma and we use a minimum …

Range Of Horizontal Transport And Residence Time Of Nitrate In A Mature Karst Vadose Zone, Jiri Kamas, Jiri Bruthans, Helena Vysoka, Miroslav Kovařík

International Journal of Speleology

Nitrate concentrations in drips in Amaterska, Spolecnak, and Holstejnska caves situated below a 25 to 120 m thick vadose zone in the Moravian Karst, Central Europe were studied during several periods from 1992. Each cave runs below a land-use boundary between fertilized lands and forest, which enabled study of the range of horizontal components of nitrate transport in the vadose zone. Parts of the fertilized land were turned into grassland in 1998 and 2003, and the cave drips were sampled both prior and after the changes in land use. The mean residence time of nitrate is - 30 m thick …

Unusual Polygenetic Void And Cave Development In Dolomitized Miocene Chalks On Barbados, West Indies, Jonathan B. Sumrall, John E. Mylroie, Hans G. Machel

International Journal of Speleology

Barbados provides an unusual case of polygenetic cave development within dolomitized chalks and marls of the Miocene Oceanics Group. These diagenetic processes are driven by a succession and interplay of tectonic uplift, fracturing, hypogene fluid injection, overprinting by mixing zone diagenesis, and mechanical and biological erosion in the current littoral zone. The significance of the voids and caves within the chalks on Barbados are: 1) these appear to be the first dissolution caves documented in dolomitized chalk, and 2) these features show a polygenetic origin documenting the diagenetic changes in lithology that allowed the development and preservation of these cave …

Gypsum-Carbonate Speleothems From Cueva De Las Espadas (Naica Mine, Mexico): Mineralogy And Palaeohydrogeological Implications, Fernando Gázquez, Jose Maria Calaforra, Paolo Forti, Fernando Rull, Jesús Martínez-Frías

International Journal of Speleology

Some of the most outstanding hypogenic gypsum speleothems worldwide have been recently discovered in the Naica mines. The Cueva de las Espadas (Swords Cave), which lies at 120 m depth, hosts a rare type of speleothem called “espada” (“sword”). This study contributes to the understanding of the mineralogical composition of these singular speleothems, by means of their examination using micro-Raman spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy and EDX microprobe. Our data revealed a complex mineralogy comprising a high-purity selenite core covered by several layers of calcite, aragonite and gypsum. Solid inclusions of polymetallic oxides (Mn-Pb-Zn) and graphite were also detected. The position of …

Iron Oxide And Calcite Associated With Leptothrix Sp. Biofilms Within An Estavelle In The Upper Floridan Aquifer, Lee J. Florea, Chasity L. Stinson, Josh Brewer, Rick Fowler, B Joe Kearns, Anthony M. Greco

International Journal of Speleology

In Thornton’s Cave, an estavelle in west-central Florida, SEM, EDS, and XRD data reveal biofilms that are predominantly comprised of FeOOH-encrusted hollow sheaths that are overgrown and intercalated with calcite. Fragments of this crystalline biofilm adhere to the walls and ceiling as water levels vary within the cave. Those on the wall have a ‘cornflake’ appearance and those affixed to the ceiling hang as fibrous membranes. PCR of DNA in the active biofilm, combined with morphologic data from the tubes in SEM micrographs, point to Leptothrix sp., a common Fe-oxidizing bacteria, as the primary organism in the biofilm. Recent discoveries …