T23 New Frontiers in Cave and Karst Research I

Monday, 26 October 2020
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Meeting Rooms

ANALYZING TIME-SERIES DATA OF PRECIPITATION, CAVE DRIPS AND STREAM DISCHARGE IN JAMES CAVE, VIRGINIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR EPIKARST STORAGE AND RECHARGE TO APPALACHIAN KARST SYSTEMS

Paper number: T23-12
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 4:00 PM – 4:15 PM

Authors

Abstract

Karst aquifers, characterized by soluble rocks such as limestone and dolostone, provide drinking water to 20-25% of the world’s population. Altered precipitation patterns resulting from climate change have the potential to significantly impact infiltration and recharge to karst aquifers, but few studies have examined the relationship between precipitation and diffuse, autogenic recharge, reflected by cave drips, in karst systems.

Our field site, James Cave (Pulaski Co, VA), is located in doline karst within the Great Valley sub-province of the Appalachian Valley and Ridge province. At the site, we have collected a 12-year dataset (2007-2019) of precipitation and cave drips, along with a shorter dataset of cave stream discharge (2007-2015). In this study, we are using time-series analyses of these datasets to quantify the hydrologic connections between precipitation, cave drips and the cave stream and to examine daily, seasonal and annual trends in the datasets. We are also conducting recession analyses of cave drip hydrographs to derive a recession coefficient, which can be used to estimate storage volumes in the overlying epikarst. Results from this study will shed light on the storage and recharge dynamics of karst aquifers.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 52, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2020AM-357170

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