Speleothem ‘uptick’ supports reduction in rainfall recharge to groundwater is unprecedented for last 800 years, SW Western Australia

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dc.contributor.authorPriestley, SCen_AU
dc.contributor.authorTreble, PCen_AU
dc.contributor.authorBaker, AAen_AU
dc.contributor.authorGriffiths, ADen_AU
dc.contributor.authorAbram, NJen_AU
dc.contributor.authorMeredith, KTen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2023-03-31T00:23:12Zen_AU
dc.date.available2023-03-31T00:23:12Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2022-12-06en_AU
dc.date.statistics2023-03-30en_AU
dc.description.abstractSouthwestern Australia relies significantly on groundwater for domestic and industrial purposes. As water availability has decreased and is projected to continue to decrease with climate change, it is critical to understand the impacts of climate change on groundwater recharge for this region. Speleothem (e.g. cave stalagmites) deposition is directly related to groundwater recharge, as they form from rainfall which has infiltrated into the vadose zone and represent periods of potential aquifer recharge. In this study, modern speleothems from five caves record a consistent response to a sustained decrease in rainfall across south-west Australia that began in the 1970s, characterised by an ‘uptick’ in the speleothem oxygen isotopic composition (Priestley et al., 2022). It is demonstrated that the ‘uptick’ is in response to the shallow karst aquifers becoming disconnected from rainfall recharge due to regional drying. As the coastal caves are located in highly permeable host rock along the wettest zone of the region, our findings imply that rainfall recharge to groundwater across the southwest Australian region may no longer be reliably occurring. The paleo-record for speleothems from south-west Australia (Treble et al., 2022) provides a longer-term context to assess the recent isotopic uptick against and confirms that no similar events are seen in the last 800 years in stalagmites from the region.en_AU
dc.identifier.citationPriestley, S., Treble, P., Baker, A., Griffiths, A., Abram, N., & Meredith, K. (2022). Speleothem ‘uptick’ supports reduction in rainfall recharge to groundwater is unprecedented for last 800 years, SW Western Australia. Paper presented to the AQUA 2022 Conference, 6-8th December, Adelaide, (pp. 87-88). Retrieved from: https://aqua.org.au/conference/aqua-2022/aqua-2022-conference-program-and-abstracts/en_AU
dc.identifier.conferenceenddate8 December 2022en_AU
dc.identifier.conferencenameAQUA 2022 Conferenceen_AU
dc.identifier.conferenceplaceAdelaideen_AU
dc.identifier.conferencestartdate6 December 2022en_AU
dc.identifier.otherABN 78458664047en_AU
dc.identifier.pagination87-88en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://aqua.org.au/conference/aqua-2022/aqua-2022-conference-program-and-abstracts/en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/14769en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherAustralasian Quaternary Associationen_AU
dc.subjectRain wateren_AU
dc.subjectAustraliaen_AU
dc.subjectGround wateren_AU
dc.subjectOxygen isotopesen_AU
dc.subjectCavesen_AU
dc.subjectRocksen_AU
dc.subjectDepositionen_AU
dc.subjectClimatesen_AU
dc.titleSpeleothem ‘uptick’ supports reduction in rainfall recharge to groundwater is unprecedented for last 800 years, SW Western Australiaen_AU
dc.typeConference Abstracten_AU
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