Caves provide early warning of unprecedented decrease in rainfall recharge of groundwater

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dc.contributor.authorPriestley, SCen_AU
dc.contributor.authorTreble, PCen_AU
dc.contributor.authorGriffiths, ADen_AU
dc.contributor.authorBaker, AAen_AU
dc.contributor.authorAbram, NJen_AU
dc.contributor.authorMeredith, KTen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2023-01-13T02:42:44Zen_AU
dc.date.available2023-01-13T02:42:44Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2022-05-02en_AU
dc.date.statistics2022-11-15en_AU
dc.descriptionThis preprint is a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License.en_AU
dc.description.abstractBillions of people worldwide rely on groundwater. As rainfall in many regions in the future is projected to decrease, it is critical to understand the impacts of climate change on groundwater recharge. In this study, five caves record a consistent response to a sustained decrease in rainfall across southwest Australia that began in the late 1960s, characterised by a pronounced increase or ’uptick’ in dripwater and speleothem oxygen isotopic composition (δ18O). It is demonstrated that the uptick is in response to the shallow karst aquifers becoming disconnected from recharge due to regional drying. Our findings imply that rainfall recharge to groundwater across this region is no longer reliably occurring. Examination of the longer speleothem record shows that this is unprecedented over at least the last 800 years. A global network of cave dripwater monitoring would serve as an early warning of reduced groundwater recharge elsewhere, while evidence for upticks in speleothem paleoclimate records would provide a longer-term context to evaluate if current groundwater recharge changes are outside the range of natural variability. This study also validates speleothems as recorders of past hydroclimate via amplification of the δ18O signal by karst hydrology highlighting that speleothem δ18O are records of recharge, rather than a direct proxy for rainfall. © 2022 The Authorsen_AU
dc.identifier.articlenumberrs.3.rs-1556439/v1en_AU
dc.identifier.citationPriestley, S., Treble, P., Griffiths, A., Baker, A., Abram, N., & Meredith, K. (2022). Caves provide early warning of unprecedented decrease in rainfall recharge of groundwater. (Preprint), Research Square. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1556439/v1en_AU
dc.identifier.issn2693-5015en_AU
dc.identifier.journaltitleResearch squareen_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1556439/v1en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/14353en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherResearch Squareen_AU
dc.subjectCavesen_AU
dc.subjectRainen_AU
dc.subjectGroundwater rechargeen_AU
dc.subjectClimatic changeen_AU
dc.subjectOxygen isotopesen_AU
dc.subjectPaleoclimatologyen_AU
dc.subjectAustraliaen_AU
dc.titleCaves provide early warning of unprecedented decrease in rainfall recharge of groundwateren_AU
dc.typeJournal Articleen_AU
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