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 …

Connections In The Underworld: A Morphological And Molecular Study Of Diversity And Connectivity Among Anchialine Shrimp., Robert Eugene Ditter

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates the distribution and population structure of crustaceans, endemic to anchialine systems in the tropical western Atlantic focusing on cave-dwelling shrimp from the family Barbouriidae. Taxonomic and molecular tools (genetic and genomic) are utilized to examine population dynamics and the presence of phenotypic hypervariation (PhyV) of the critically endangered species Barbouria cubensis (von Martens, 1872). The presence of PhyV and its geographic distribution is investigated among anchialine populations of B. cubensis from 34 sites on Abaco, Eleuthera, and San Salvador, Bahamas. Examination of 54 informative morphological characters revealed PhyV present in nearly 90% (n=463) of specimens with no …

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, …

Mammoth Onyx Cave - Relating To (Sc 3504), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3504. Letter, 15 August 1922, of Charles A. Richardson, Assistant Geologist, Kentucky Geological Survey, to Dr. Harry B. Thomas, Horse Cave, Kentucky, regarding his recent study of the formations in Mammoth Onyx Cave, then owned by Thomas. He remarks on the “abundance of Mexican Onyx, or Onyx Marble” and the beauty of the stalactites and stalagmites. Includes a pamphlet by Leon Foster with his impressions of the cave, which was opened to the public in 1922.

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 …

Protocol Implementation Plan For Cave Water Quality Monitoring In The Northern Great Plains Network, Narrative Version 1.0, Isabel W. Ashton, Justin S. Mills, Marc Ohms, Daniel Austin, Michael Wiles, Kara Paintner-Green

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network includes thirteen park units located in five northern Great Plains states across six ecoregions. Two park units, Jewel Cave National Monument (JECA) and Wind Cave National Park (WICA), protect significant cave resources. These two caves are among the longest caves in the world and have an assortment of underground water resources ranging from drip sites to cave lakes. Subsurface water quantity and quality in the caves is a concern due to groundwater depletion and groundwater contamination from pesticides (aboveground applications), hydrocarbons (vehicle use and related activities), and wastewater effluent (sewage …

Multivariate Analysis Of Hydrochemical Data For Jewel Cave, Wind Cave, And Surrounding Areas, Andrew J. Long, James B. Paces, William G. Eldridge

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

Jewel Cave National Monument and Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota contain two of the six longest caves worldwide. These caves contain subterranean lakes that are important points of intersection between the water table of the Madison aquifer and the caves. During 2015 to 2017, several subterranean lakes were discovered in Jewel Cave, which previously was thought to be above the regional water table. The objectives of this study were to better understand the hydrology of the recently discovered subterranean lakes in Jewel Cave and to evaluate their relation or possible connection to similar lakes in Wind Cave. …

Ua6/2/4 Lost River Cave & Valley - Property, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Unprocessed property files created by and about Lost River Cave.

Ua66/8/2 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Geography & Geology Centers & Institutes, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about Centers and Institutes administered by the Geography & Geology Department. Including:

• Center for Cave & Karst Studies
• Center for Local Government Services
• Hoffman Environmental Research Institute
• Kentucky Climate Center
• Resources Management Institute
• Small Public Water System Technology Center

Ua66/8/1 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Geography & Geology Events, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created for Geography & Geology department events.

Ua66/8/6 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Geography & Geology Allied Organizations, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about allied organizations associated with the Geography & Geology department, including the Council of Geography Teachers, Green River Grotto, and Kentucky Geographic Alliance.

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 …

Unconfined Hypogene Evaporite Karst: West Texas And Southeastern New Mexico, Usa, Kevin W. Stafford, Jon T. Ehrhart, Adam F. Majzoub, Jessica M. Shields, Wesley A. Brown

Faculty Publications

Diverse karst phenomena occur throughout the Gypsum Plain where the Castile Formation crops out over ~1800 km² in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. Hypergene karst is extensive and widespread, while traditional hypogene karst manifestations (both caves and intrastratal dissolution) occur in high frequency in the western outcrop region where surface denudation has been the greatest so as to induce surficial breaching. Unconfined hypogene karst occurrences have been recently identified, including two general variations: 1) artesian-like discharge features; and 2) venting structures. Artesian-like discharge features arise at surficially-breached hypogene caves and through high permeability regions on the margins of …

De Paepe, Duane - Collector (Mss 625), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 625. The Duane De Paepe Kentucky Cave Saltpetre History Research Collection, a collection of historical research, field notes, cave surveys, photographs, maps, reports, and scholarly writing on saltpetre mining in Kentucky, especially at Mammoth Cave. The collection was created under a research program sponsored by the Cave Research Foundation and the National Geographic Society in Kentucky, 1976-1980, and directed by De Paepe.

Faust, Burton Sherwood, 1898-1967 (Mss 620), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 620. Correspondence, research notes, drafts, photographs, reference works and bibliographic material of Burton S. Faust relating to his studies of the chemical, historical and cultural aspects of saltpetre and of spelean saltpetre mining in the United States.

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 …

Ua12/2/2 2016 Talisman - Life More Life, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Archives Records

2016 Talisman yearbook.

• Paris, Rachel. Dawn of Delta Zeta
• Ziege, Nicole. Kick It to the Limit – Soccer
• Paris, Rachel. Immersion: Band
• Houston, Emily. Immersion: Dance
• Paris, Rahcel. Immersion: ROTC
• Ziege, Nicole. Immersion: Theatre
• Holt, Delaney. Major Pride – WKU Majorette Style Dance Team
• Houston, Emily. Hollow Spike – Volleyball
• Moscoe, Carrie. The Intergallactic Tightrope – Elliott Talkington, Theatre & Dance
• Gilliam, Ashely. Tops on Top – Cheerleaders
• Young, Kreable. A Grand Adventure – Grand Canyon, Outdoor Recreation Activity Center
• Voorhees, Jessica. Home Team Advantage – Track & Field
• Homecoming
• Sproles, Katherine. Saddle School – Dylan Davis, Rodeo
• Sims, Bryna. …

Corbicula Fluminea Food Web Ecology: An Experimental Transplant Approach In A Karst Riverine System, Autumn Smith

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The Asiatic clam Corbicula fluminea is a filter-feeding habitat generalist. Carbon isotopic composition (δ13C) of C. fluminea body tissue was compared between reaches of Kentucky’s upper Green River that differed in Cladophora growth. Corbicula fluminea from an upstream reach with little Cladophora was translocated to a downstream reach with high Cladophora levels. Individuals from both reaches were placed in mussel silos in the same downstream reach in autumn 2012 and again in 2013 for 77 and 119 days, respectively. Flow during 2012 consisted of no high flow events until late autumn. Flow patterns in 2013 were consistently higher and more …

Ua1c11/55 Gordon Wilson Photo Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Photographs taken by and of Gordon Wilson.

Ua6/1/1 Lost River Cave & Valley - Oral History Project, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Unprocessed oral history files regarding Lost River Cave & Valley.

Ua668/4 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Geography & Geology Administration, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the administration of the Geography & Geology department.

Ua24 Mammoth Cave International Center For Science & Learning, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the Mammoth Cave International Center for Science and Learning.

Ua1c11/25 Lost River Cave Photo Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Photographs and postcards created by Lost River Cave & Valley.

Biospeleologists, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Ua66/8/3 Geogram, Wku Geography & Geology

WKU Archives Records

Newsletter created by and about the WKU Geography & Geology highlighting activities of faculty, students and alumni.

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 76, No. 35, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Archives Records

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. Articles in this issue:

• Walsh, Erica. Chris Groves Recovering After Dramatic Cave Rescue – Sides Cave
• Lynch, Caroline. Night-long Rescue Effort Has Happy Ending – Chris Groves
• Youngman, Sam. Students Helping Bowling Green Economic Boom
• Pre-Law Club Hosting Panel
• New Support Group Forming – Eating Disorders
• Hall, Rex. New Traffic Signal Delayed – University Boulevard
• Ragan, Jason. Engineering Program A Step Closer
• Student Government Association Will Benefit from Online Voting
• Grady, Brian. Editorial Cartoon re: Virtual Voting
• Kreitzer, Debbie. Opinion Page an Instrument of Gossip
• Van der Meer, Wieb. …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 76, No. 34, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Archives Records

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. Articles in this issue:

• Karen, Mattias. Professor Trapped in Cave – Chris Groves
• Walsh, Erica. Elections May Go Online – Student Government Association
• Hoang, Mai Beauty King – Matt Curry, Mr. Hilltopper
• Western Grad Places Eighth in Hearst – Matt Batcheldor
• Forensics Team Wins Indiana Tournament
• Moore, Brian. Race Lawsuit File Full of Discrepancies, Contradictions – Robert Dye
• Football Players Deserve Rings
• Grady, Brian. Editorial Cartoon re: Football Championship Rings
• Conger, Aaron. Teachers Should Show Compassion
• Chaney, David. Intro to Toilet Flushing – General Education
• Moore, Conrad. Geography, Geology …

The Unsung Heroes Of Speleology, Aldemaro Romero Jr., Kathryn Benz

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Ua66/8/3 Geogram, Wku Geography & Geology

WKU Archives Records

Newsletter created by and about the WKU Geography & Geology highlighting activities of faculty, students and alumni.