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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Tracer Tests In Karst Hydrogeology And Speleology, Nico Goldscheider, Joe Meiman, Michiel Pronk, Christopher Smart
Tracer Tests In Karst Hydrogeology And Speleology, Nico Goldscheider, Joe Meiman, Michiel Pronk, Christopher Smart
International Journal of Speleology
This article presents an introduction to the fundamentals of tracing techniques and their application in cave and karst environments, illustrated by case studies from the Mammoth Cave, USA, and a small experimental site in Switzerland. The properties and limitations of the most important artificial tracers are discussed, and the available methods of tracer injection, sampling, online monitoring and laboratory analysis are presented. Fully quantitative tracer experiments result in continuous or discrete concentration-time data series, i.e. breakthrough curves, and concomitant discharge data, which make it possible to obtain detailed information about groundwater flow and contaminant transport. Within the frame of speleological …
The Role Of The Epikarst In Karst And Cave Hydrogeology: A Review, Paul W. Williams
The Role Of The Epikarst In Karst And Cave Hydrogeology: A Review, Paul W. Williams
International Journal of Speleology
The epikarst (also known as the subcutaneous zone) comprises highly weathered carbonate bedrock immediately beneath the surface or beneath the soil (when present) or exposed at the surface. Porosity and permeability are higher near the surface than at depth, consequently after recharge percolating rainwater is detained near the base of the epikarst, the detention ponding producing an epikarstic aquifer. Such an aquifer is found only where the uppermost part of the vadose zone is very weathered compared to the bedrock at depth. Sometimes this contrast in porosity and permeability does not occur either because the epikarst has been scraped off …