78 New Frontiers in Cave and Karst Science

We encourage submissions in any field of cave and karst science, with special emphasis on novel techniques, interdisciplinary approaches, and contributions from diverse early career researchers (students, postdocs, and faculty).

Monday, 20 October 2025
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
HBGCC, 211

Assessing Groundwater Infiltration, Hydrological Response and Recharge Dynamics through Automated Cave Drip Monitoring: A study at Natural Bridge Caverns, Texas

Paper number: 78-6
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:20 AM – 9:35 AM

Authors

Abstract

In Texas, groundwater from karst aquifers represents a significant percentage of the State’s water supply. Karst regions are critical hydrogeological systems, capable of storing and trasmitting substantial volumes of groundwater through extensive networks of solution-enlarged conduits, fractures, and voids within soluble rock formations. Caves offer natural access points for observing long-term vadose zone water storage and preferential flow, offering a better understanding of groundwater flow paths. Natural Bridge Caverns (NBC), which is situated within the recharge zone of the Edwards (Balcones Fault Zone) aquifer and contribution zone of the Trinity aquifer, was monitored with a high resolution, spatially dense cave discharge network during one hydrological year to characterize water infiltration within Cretaceous karst. Precipitation, soil water content (SWC) and evapotranspiration (ET) data was obtained for the location and used to evaluate infiltration-discharge relationship for 20 drip loggers. All drip sites remained active throughout the monitoring period, and generally exhibited low discharge rates during dry periods and high discharge rates in response to rainfall events. Discharge at the drip sites varied substantially, and analysis revealed a spatial relationship emerging from the dataset. Using Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) and agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) we were able to classify similar drip types to obtain four unique drip regimes. A lithological assessment suggests that secondary porosity is influencing water movement rather than overburden thickness. Despite the relatively short time frame of this study, we find that the results shed valuable insights into the heterogeneity of hydrological flow within Cretaceous karst at Natural Bridge Caverns. It also emphasizes the importance of advancing our understanding and characterization of unsaturated zone hydrological processes to inform effective groundwater management policies.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-411947

© Copyright 2025 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.