Earth Sciences Commons^™

An Inventory And Condition Survey Of The Western Australian Part Of The Nullarbor Region, Peter-Jon A. Waddell, A K. Gardner, P Hennig

Technical Bulletins

The inventory and condition survey of the Western Australian part of the Nullarbor region, undertaken by the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) between 2005 and 2007, describes and maps the natural resources of the region. This survey report provides a baseline record of the existence and condition of the area's natural resources, to assist with the planning and implementation of land management practices. The report identified and described the condition of soils, landforms, vegetation, habitat, ecosystems, and declared plants and animals. It also assessed the impact of pastoralism and made land management recommendations. The Nullarbor region has …

Karst Geology And Cave Fauna Of Austria: A Concise Review, Erhard Christian, Christoph Spötl

International Journal of Speleology

The state of cave research in Austria is outlined from the geological and zoological perspective. Geologic sections include the setting of karst regions, tectonic and palaeoclimatic control on karst, modern cave environments, and karst hydrology. A chapter on the development of Austrian biospeleology in the 20th century is followed by a survey of terrestrial underground habitats, biogeographic remarks, and an annotated selection of subterranean invertebrates.

The Influences Of Microbial Diversity On Carbonate Geochemistry Across A Transition From Fresh To Saline Water In The Edwards Aquifer, Texas, Cassie Jo Gray

LSU Master's Theses

Microbially-mediated karstification through the production of metabolic byproducts has been well-documented in cave environments, but less is known about deep karstic settings. This research aimed to distinguish between microbial and geochemical influences on carbonate dissolution in the Edwards Aquifer, a prolific karst aquifer in central Texas, specifically from a transect of six wells across a transition from fresh to saline water in New Braunfels. For the first time, a portion of the aquifer’s bacterial diversity was examined from molecular 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses, which revealed that Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Betaproteobacteria dominated the aquifer, with rare Bacteroidetes, Nitrospirae, and Firmicutes …

Spatial Distribution Of Soda Straws Growth Rates Of The Coufin Cave (Vercors, France), Yves Perrette, Stéphane Jaillet

International Journal of Speleology

The Choranche Cave system (Vercors, France) is an excellent locality for measuring the growth rates of large numbers soda straws. This is especially the case for the Coufin Cave, as enlargement of the cave entrance in 1875 led to a change in stalactite color from brown to white, thus providing a reliable chronomarker. The date of this brown-to-white calcite transition has been confirmed by lamina counting. We measured and georeferenced the growth-lengths of 306 soda straws in a 1m² area of the roof of the Coufin Cave entrance chamber. Because of the very slow and sometimes inexistent water feeding …

Teaching Resources In Speleology And Karst: A Valuable Educational Tool, Jo De Waele

International Journal of Speleology

There is a growing need in the speleological community of tools that make teaching of speleology and karst much easier. Despite the existence of a wide range of major academic textbooks, often the caver community has a difficult access to such material. Therefore, to fill this gap, the Italian Speleological Society, under the umbrella of the Union International de Spéléologie, has prepared a set of lectures, in a presentation format, on several topics including geology, physics, chemistry, hydrogeology, mineralogy, palaeontology, biology, microbiology, history, archaeology, artificial caves, documentation, etc. These lectures constitute the “Teaching Resources in Speleology and Karst”, available online. …

Latest Quaternary Paleoclimate Reconstruction Utilizing Stable Isotopic And Trace Element Proxies In A Stalagmite From Culverson Creek Cave, West Virginia, Ashley Nicole Gilbert

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

A reconstruction of regional climate variability in southern West Virginia that spans the last glacial/interglacial transition is presented. Paleoclimate interpretations obtained from the 50-cm long stalagmite provide key insights regarding the timing, magnitude, and forcing mechanisms responsible for past climate variability. Stable isotopic (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) and trace element (Ba, Sr, Mg) signatures from samples contiguously milled along the growth-axis of a ²³⁰Th-dated stalagmite which grew between approximately 20 and 5 thousand years before present (kyr BP) provide critical constraints for above-cave mean annual temperature, seasonality of moisture mean annual precipitation, and potential vegetation shifts. …

Feasibility Of Using 15N-Enriched Escherichia Coli As A Bacterial Tracer In The Cane Run/Royal Spring Basin, Kentucky, John G. Warden

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

A novel tracer method has used ¹⁵N to label Escherichia coli and track the transport of bacteria, a common contaminant, through karst aquifers. Use of this method could provide valuable insight into the movement of bacteria in aquifers, which would help improve remediation methods and strategies. A wild strain of E. coli was isolated from the Cane Run/Royal Spring basin in the Inner Bluegrass region of Kentucky. The strain was serotyped O^-:H^- and virulence testing showed the strain did not have virulence factors of E. coli commonly pathogenic to humans. Five karst microcosms were filled with …

Gpr Detection Of Karst And Archaeological Targets Below The Historical Centre Of Merida, Yucatán, Mexico., Luis Barba, Jorge Blancas, Agustin Ortiz, Josep Ligorred

Studia UBB Geologia

The Historical Center of Merida has been classified as a “zone of high patrimonial value” based on the study of topography and the historical documents that show a long-term occupation, non-interrupted since pre-Columbian times when T’Hó was the great capital of the northern region of the Maya area.

For the local government, rehabilitation of the Historical Center of Merida has been a great priority. Among others, this project includes preservation of archaeological remains (pre-Columbian or colonial) and detection of karstic zones under the city. In order to prevent damage to the patrimony, ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys were carried out …

Eogenetic Karst Of The Carbonate Islands Of The Northern Marianas [Abstract], Kevin W. Stafford, John W. Jenson, John E. Mylroie

Faculty Presentations

No abstract provided.

Age-Distribution Estimation For Karst Groundwater: Issues Of Parameterization And Complexity In Inverse Modeling By Convolution, Andrew J. Long, Larry D. Putnam

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Convolution modeling is useful for investigating the temporal distribution of groundwater age based on environmental tracers. The framework of a quasi-transient convolution model that is applicable to two-domain flow in karst aquifers is presented. The model was designed to provide an acceptable level of statistical confidence in parameter estimates when only chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and tritium (³H) data are available. We show how inverse modeling and uncertainty assessment can be used to constrain model parameterization to a level warranted by available data while allowing major aspects of the flow system to be examined. As an example, the model was …

Four Rivers Basin: Cumberland, Tennessee, Ohio, Mississippi, Daniel I. Carey

Map and Chart--KGS

The Four Rivers Basin includes over 4 ,700 square miles in all or parts of 17 counties. The basin contains more than 10,700 miles of streams.

More than 720 miles of streams assessed in the basin by the Kentucky Division of Water do not support designated uses for warm-water aquatic habitat, fish consumption, primary contact recreation, or secondary contact recreation. Not all streams have been assessed. The percentage of assessed streams not supporting uses was: warm-water aquatic habitat (58 percent); fish consumption (14 percent); primary contact recreation (76 percent); secondary contact recreation (30 percent). Nearly 125 miles of streams have …

Salt River Basin, Daniel I. Carey

Map and Chart--KGS

The Salt River Basin and adjacent Ohio River drainages include over 4,150 square miles in all or parts of 19 counties. The basin contains more than 9,600 miles of streams.

Over 660 miles of streams assessed in the basin by the Kentucky Division of Water do not support designated uses for warm-water aquatic habitat, fish consumption, or primary contact recreation (swimming). Not all streams have been assessed. The percentage of assessed streams not supporting uses was: warm-water aquatic habitat (38 percent); fish consumption (36 percent); primary contact recreation (86 percent). Over 100 miles of streams have been declared special use …

Annual And Transient Signatures Of Gas Exchange And Transport In The Castañar De Ibor Cave (Spain), Angel Fernandez-Cortes, Sergio Sanchez-Moral, Soledad Cuezva, Juan Carlos Cañaveras, Rafael Abella

International Journal of Speleology

The large microclimatic stability is a basic characteristic of the subterranean karst systems and causes a high sensitivity to changes in environmental conditions. High-accuracy monitoring of Castañar de Ibor cave (Spain) determined the temporal evolution of the aerodynamic processes and ventilation rate by tracking CO₂ and ²²²Rn levels over a twelve-month period. This cave is characterized by a very stable microclimate, with high and relatively constant radon content (the mean value is 32200 Bq/m³, roughly, and the standard deviation is 7600 Bq/m³) and a moderate and quite stable CO2 concentration (the mean value is …

Productivity-Diversity Relationships From Chemolithoautotrophically Based Sulfidic Karst Systems, Megan L. Porter, Annette Summers Engel, Thomas C. Kane, Brian K. Kinkle

International Journal of Speleology

Although ecosystems thriving in the absence of photosynthetic processes are no longer considered unique phenomena, we have yet to understand how these ecosystems are energetically sustained via chemosynthesis. Ecosystem energetics were measured in microbial mats from active sulfidic caves (Movile Cave, Romania; Frasassi Caves, Italy; Lower Kane Cave, Wyoming, USA; and Cesspool Cave, Virginia, USA) using radiotracer techniques. We also estimated bacterial diversity using 16S rRNA sequences to relate the productivity measurements to the composition of the microbial communities. All of the microbial communities investigated were dominated by chemolithoautotrophic productivity, with the highest rates from Movile Cave at 281 g …

A One-Dimensional Heat-Transport Model For Conduit Flow In Karst Aquifers, Andrew J. Long, Patrick C. Gilcrease

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A one-dimensional heat-transport model for conduit flow in karst aquifers is presented as an alternative to two or three-dimensional distributed-parameter models, which are data intensive and require knowledge of conduit locations. This model can be applied for cases where water temperature in a well or spring receives all or part of its water from a phreatic conduit. Heat transport in the conduit is simulated by using a physically-based heat-transport equation that accounts for inflow of diffuse flow from smaller openings and fissures in the surrounding aquifer during periods of low recharge. Additional diffuse flow that is within the zone of …

Water Quality Impacts From Agricultural Land Use In Karst Drainage Basins Of Sw Kentucky And Sw China, Chris Groves, Ted Baker

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

Karst regions are composed of soluble rock, often limestone, which leads to the formation of fissures, sinkholes, and water flow conduits such as caves. Pollutants in karst waters tend to be quickly directed and concentrated into these subsurface conduits. As a result of this and other factors, water resources are especially sensitive to contamination and pollution in karst areas. Pollutant concentrations going into karst subsurface fluvial systems are often very similar to the concentrations surfacing at outlets such as springs. Areas connected by karst conduit flows must be distinctly determined and special attention should be given to water quality impacts …

Hypogenic Speleogenesis Within Seven Rivers Evaporites: Coffee Cave, Eddy County, New Mexico, Kevin W. Stafford, Lewis Land, Alexander Klimchouk

Faculty Publications

Coffee Cave, located in the lower Pecos region of southeastern New Mexico, illustrates processes of hypogenic speleogenesis in the middle Permian Seven Rivers Formation. Coffee Cave is a rectilinear gypsum maze cave with at least four stratigraphically-distinct horizons of development. Morphological features throughout the cave provide unequivocal evidence of hypogenic ascending speleogenesis in a confined aquifer system driven by mixed (forced and free) convection. Morphologic features in individual cave levels include a complete suite that defines original rising flow paths, ranging from inlets for hypogenic fluids (feeders) through transitional forms (rising wall channels) to ceiling half-tube flow features and fluid …

Hypogene Speleogenesis Within The Central Basin Platform: Karst Porosity In The Yates Field, Pecos County, Texas, U.S.A., Kevin W. Stafford, Fred H. Behnken, Jesse G. White

Faculty Publications

The Yates Unit Oil Field is located on the southeastern tip of the Central Basin Platform in eastern Pecos County, Texas. It produces from Middle Permian strata, primarily the upper San Andres Formation. Locally, the productive upper San Andres Formation is comprised of successively vertically stacked progradational shelf carbonates. Stratigraphically overlying the Yates Field reservoir, the Toborg Field produces from the uppermost Triassic and Cretaceous units. Both fields are bounded on the north and east sides by the Pecos River, which has remained entrenched in its current location since the early Tertiary. As mapped, the top of the San Andres …

Castile Evaporite Karst Potential Map Of The Gypsum Plain, Eddy County, New Mexico And Culberson County, Texas: A Gis Methodological Comparison, Kevin W. Stafford, Laura Rosales-Lagarde, Penelope J. Boston

Faculty Publications

Castile Formation gypsum crops out over ,1,800 km2 in the western Delaware Basin where it forms the majority of the Gypsum Plain. Karst development is well recognized in the Gypsum Plain (i.e., filled and open sinkholes with associated caves); however, the spatial occurrence has been poorly known. In order to evaluate the extent and distribution of karst development within the Castile portion of the Gypsum Plain, combined field and Geographic Information System (GIS) studies were conducted, which enable a first approximation of regional speleogenesis and delineate karst-related natural resources for management. Field studies included physical mapping of 50, 1-km2 sites, …

The Mobility Of Fecal Indicator Microorganisms Within A Karst Groundwater Basin In The Inner Bluegrass Region, Kentucky, James Wade Ward

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This project implemented novel approaches to assess the source, age, concentration and mobility of fecal indicator microorganisms within a karst groundwater system. Research was conducted in the well-characterized Blue Hole Spring karst groundwater basin in Versailles, Woodford County, Kentucky. At this site the AC/TC ratio and fecal coliform (FC) bacteria counts were used to delineate sources of fecal inputs and determine relative age of the fecal matter. An aging experiment using indicator bacteria (total coliform (TC) and atypical colonies (AC)), which approximated subsurface conditions, indicated that changes in the AC/TC ratio are likely to be retarded during bacterial transport through …

Geologic Hazards In Kentucky, Daniel I. Carey, Terry D. Hounshell, John D. Kiefer

Map and Chart--KGS

Geologic data were derived from the Kentucky Geological Survey-U.S. Geological Survey areal geologic mapping project. Nearly 190 geologists mapped the geology of Kentucky from 1960 to 1978. KGS geologists converted the resulting 707 geologic quadrangle maps into digital format at part of the STATEMAP component of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program of the United States Geological Survey.

Geology Of Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, Matthew M. Crawford, Rickard A. Olson, Rickard S. Toomey Iii, Lillian J. Scoggins

Map and Chart--KGS

Mammoth Cave National Park in south-central Kentucky was authorized as a national park in 1926 and was fully established in 1941 to protect the cave system, scenic landscape, and diverse flora and fauna. The park contains 52,830 acres and most of the longest recorded cave system in the world, with more than 390 miles of mapped passages as of 2013. Even though Mammoth Cave is famous, people are often unaware of the park's intricate connection to the outside region. This poster shows the geology of Mammoth Cave and the interconnected issues that are important to the park and its visitors. …

Hydrogeochemical Processes As Environmental Indicators In Drip Water: Study Of The Cueva Del Agua (Southern Spain), Angel Fernandez-Cortes, Jose Maria Calaforra, Francisco Sánchez-Martos

International Journal of Speleology

Karst caves exhibit a wide range of hydrological and hydrochemical responses to infiltration events, due to their physical heterogeneity in space and dynamic variability over time, and due to non-Gaussian inputs (rain) and outputs (discharge). This paper reviews different approaches of studying seepage water in caves, in order to understand the infiltration regimen in the non-saturated zone of karst areas. As an illustration, we describe a four-year study of the active carbonate-water system in the Cueva del Agua (Granada, southern Spain) that automatically logs the discharge from a stalactite. The results indicate that: (1) the drip water regime is not …

Contribution Of Artificial Galleries To The Knowledge Of Karstic System Behaviour In Addition To Natural Cavern Data, Benjamin Garry, Thibaut Blondel, Christophe Emblanch, Christophe Sudre, Séverine Bilgot, Alain Cavaillou, Daniel Boyer, Michel Auguste

International Journal of Speleology

The study of karstic systems is mainly based on hydrodynamic and hydrochemical data collected at system inlets (rainfall) and outlets (springs). Indeed, some complementary data base coming from speleological and hydrogeological explorations of natural cavities exist. However, they are not completely representative of all the types of flows. These kinds of flow which have a large part in general hydrodynamics of a system are already the result of a structured organization of karst due to complex phenomena of limestone dissolution. Artificial galleries have the advantage to be easily accessible. Moreover, they cut randomly flows which are much less structured or …

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 …

Groundwater Contamination In Caves: Four Case Studies In Spain, Monserrat Jiménez-Sánchez, Heather Stoll, Iñaki Vadillo, Manolo López-Chicano, María Domínguez-Cuesta, Wenceslao Martín-Rosales, Mónica Meléndez-Asensio

International Journal of Speleology

Groundwater quality was monitored in four Spanish caves using concentrations of nitrate, potassium, phosphorus and in some cases total organic carbon. Three of the caves are located in NW Spain and contain prehistoric cave paintings and hence have special conservation interest. Of these, two are open show caves (Tito Bustillo and Pindal Caves), while the other one (Herrerías Cave) is not managed for tours and is partially closed off to public access. The fourth cave (Las Maravillas Cave) is located in SW Spain and is opened to the public because of its geological features and natural beauty. In this paper, …

An Analysis Of Base-Level Conduit Sedimentation In South Central Kentucky, Ben Tobin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In karst basins, significant amounts of surface-derived sediment can enter into cave systems. The transport and deposition of these sediments in underground streams is a function of flow velocity, sediment supply and passage morphology. Changes in the surface environment can affect the water and sediment supplies to subsurface drainage systems and thus may be reflected in the sedimentary structure, texture and rates of deposition of cave sediments. Cave sediments in two south central Kentucky caves were studied to evaluate a possible, relationship between variations in deposit characteristics and variations in surface changes, including land-use. Samples were collected using coring tubes …

Mapping Middle Paleozoic Erosional And Karstic Patterns With 3-D Seismic Attributes And Well Data In The Arkoma Basin, Oklahoma, Alonzo R. Brinkerhoff

Theses and Dissertations

Newly available industry well data and seismic attribute analysis reveal that late Ordovician-early Devonian Hunton Group strata are more widespread (i.e., not removed by mid-Devonian erosion) in the central and southern portions of the Arkoma Basin in eastern Oklahoma than previously thought. This study demonstrates the value of applying seismic attribute analysis to problems of quantifying and mapping stratigraphic features caused by erosions and/or karstification. Well and seismic isochron data in the Red Oak petroleum field for the Viola-Woodford interval (the units that lie stratigraphically beneath and above, respectively, the Huton Group) show isolated ~40-m thick lenses of Hunton rocks, …

Storm Response And Water Balance Of Temperate Rainforest Karst Watersheds: Tongass National Forest, Alaska, Johanna Kovarik

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska contains 2,176 square kilometers of karst. As part of the evolving Tongass Land Management Plan, research into the function of karst systems is crucial in understanding how forest management affects not only karst areas but also surrounding ecosystems. Dye trace and water balance results in two watersheds on the north end of Prince of Wales Island demonstrate the difficulty in containing the effects of management, as water can enter karst catchments from unknown sources at different flow regimes. A dye trace was conducted in Windgate and Canyon Block watersheds. Two sinking streams were …

Generalized Geologic Map For Land-Use Planning: Adair County, Kentucky, Daniel I. Carey

Map and Chart--KGS

This map is not intended to be used for selecting individual sites. Its purpose is to inform land-use planners, government officials, and the public in a general way about geologic bedrock conditions that affect the selection of sites for various purposes. The properties of thick soils may supercede those of the underlying bedrock and should be considered on a site-to-site basis. At any site, it is important to understand the characteristics of both the soils and the underlying rock.