Speleology Commons^™

Carbon Cycling And Critical Zone Dynamics In An Urbanized Karst Groundwater System, Amy Hourigan

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Increasing atmospheric CO₂ concentrations are correlated to rising global temperatures. Investigating the cumulative global carbon cycling processes is important to understand and quantify the global carbon cycle. By investigating basic geochemical parameters, EpCO₂, DIC, and δ¹³C_DIC, at four sites along Lost River Cave (LRC), in Bowling Green, Kentucky, concentrations, fluxes and sources of C dissolved in groundwater were determined. Urban karst groundwater systems, compared to more natural karst landscapes, typically exhibit widespread impervious, heat-absorbing surfaces, urban heat island effects, and increased anthropogenic groundwater inputs and localized CO₂ emissions. Carbonate hydrogeochemical …

Impacts Of Forest Management And Timber Harvest Practices On Karst Critical Zone Processes In Tongass National Forest, Alaska, Anna Gwendolyn Harris

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study characterizes the throughfall, hydrogeochemistry, dissolution rates, and carbon sources of two proximate temperate rainforest cave systems within the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska (Tongass). Study sites include: an old-growth forest, characterized by having never been logged (containing Walkabout Cave system); and a previously logged – within thirty years, second-growth forest (containing Zina Cave system). Precipitation data were recorded over a five-month period at 10-minute intervals, to understand the effects of throughfall between the altering old and second-growth canopies. At each major spring for the two cave systems, high-resolution data were collected from June 29 through November 21, …

Influence Of Spring Flow Reversals On Cave Dissolution In A Telogenetic Karst Aquifer, Mammoth Cave, Ky, Chelsey Kipper

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

An often overlooked connection between karst groundwater systems and surface water is spring flow reversal, the flow of river water into karst springs caused by changes in hydraulic gradient. Karst aquifers are subject to the intrusion of river water when the hydraulic head of a base level river is higher than the hydraulic head of a base level spring. When this occurs, the flow out of the spring reverses, allowing river water to enter base level conduits. River water thus becomes a source of recharge into karst basins, transporting both valuable nutrients and harmful contaminants into karst aquifers. The rapid …

Monitoring And Evaluating The Influences Of Class V Injection Wells On Urban Karst Hydrology, James Adam Shelley

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The response of a karst aquifer to storm events is often faster and more severe than that of a non-karst aquifer. This distinction is often problematic for planners and municipalities, because karst flooding does not typically occur along perennial water courses; thus, traditional flood management strategies are usually ineffective. The City of Bowling Green (CoBG), Kentucky is a representative example of an area plagued by karst flooding. The CoBG, is an urban karst area (UKA), that uses Class V Injection Wells to lessen the severity of flooding. The overall effectiveness, siting, and flooding impact of Injection Wells in UKA’s is …

Controls On Speleogenesis In The Upper-Mississippian Pennington Formation On The Western Cumberland Plateau Escarpment, Hali Steinmann

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Much of the pioneering work on caves of the Cumberland Plateau (province spanning Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Georgia) has been stratigraphically located within the Mississippian Bangor and Monteagle Limestones, wherein some of the region’s largest and most spectacular caves occur. Of interest to the understanding of this karst landscape, but severely underrepresented in the literature thereof, are caves and karst features in a heterogeneous sequence of clastics and carbonates known collectively as the Pennington Formation (Upper Mississippian). This work consisted of a regional study of Pennington caves on the western Cumberland Plateau escarpment (Alabama and Tennessee), and a case study …

Epikarst Hydrogeochemical Changes In Telogenetic Karst Systems In South-Central Kentucky, Leah Jackson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Telogenetic epikarst carbon sourcing and transport processes and the associated hydrogeochemical responses are often complex and dynamic. Among the processes involved in epikarst development is a highly variable storage and flow relationship that is often influenced by the type, rate, and amount of dissolution kinetics involved. Diffusion rates of CO2 in the epikarst zone may drive hydrogeochemical changes that influence carbonate dissolution processes and conduit formation. Most epikarst examinations of these defining factors ignore regional-scale investigations in favor of characterizing more localized processes. This study aims to address that discrepancy through a comparative analysis of two telogenetic epikarst systems under …

The Use Of Down-Hole Video To Evaluate Parameters Affecting Removal Of Storm Water Runoff Into A Karst Aquifer In Bowling Green, Kentucky, Philip Reeder

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Due to recent land use changes, runoff has greatly increased In Bowling Green, necessitating the drilling of nearly 600 drainage wells to direct storm water into the Lost River Karst Aquifer. Research was conducted to (1) differentiate areas of the city as optimal for removal of storm water runoff, (2) correlate lithologic features between wells, and (3) determine optimal depths to which new drainage wells should be drilled. This was accomplished using maximum capacity tests, correlation of lithologic features between wells and comparing void density to depth below the land surface.

It was only possible to develop general trends in …

Enteric Contamination Of An Urban Karstified Carbonate Aquifer: The Double Springs Drainage Basin, Bowling Green, Kentucky, Geary Schindel

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Biological and chemical analysis of water samples, collected from surface and subsurface streams was preformed to determine the quantity and biologic sources of enteric contamination in the Double Springs Groundwater Basin, an urban karstified carbonate aquifer under Bowling Green, Kentucky. Major flow paths, drainage basin boundaries and geologic/hydrologic relationships were identified for the basin. Analysis of biologic contaminates using fecal coliform /fecal streptococcus counts and ratios were conducted for baseflow and storm events and related to the Double Springs hydrographs. Analysis was also conducted to determine the source of sulfides responsible for the growth of sulfur fixing bacteria in the …

Nonpoint Agricultural Pollution In A Karst Aquifer: Lost River Groundwater Drainage Basin, Warren County, Kentucky, Nancy Tucker

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Chemical analysis of samples collected from subsurface streams and wells were analyzed to identify nonpoint pollutants in karst aquifers resulting from agricultural land use. Major flow paths and travel times taken by nonpoint pollutants were identified. A land use limitation map showing areas where agricultural activities may results in nonpoint pollution of the karst aquifer was prepared. A groundwater susceptibility map was prepared to show areas of the karst aquifer most susceptible to groundwater contamination by nonpoint pollution resulting from agricultural land use.

Research findings revealed that pollutant concentrations may reach levels thousands of times greater during high discharge events …

Hydrology Of The Sinking Creek System, Logan And Simpson Counties, Kentucky, James C. Cubbage

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Southwest of Bowling Green, Kentucky, is the Western Pennyroyal, is a karstified area which has been neglected in the study of its ground water. About 100 square miles near Adairville were chosen for analysis to help rectify this lack of knowledge. The area is dominated by Sinking Creek, a surface-subsurface drainage system.

The main purpose of the study was to map the underground flow in the Sinking Creek area. The drainage system seemed to be typical for the Western Pennyroyal and exhibited many similarities to flow paths known in the Central Kentucky Karst.

The investigation proved to be of basic …