Drip hydrology monitoring in caves to inform stalagmite palaeoclimate records, Yarrangobilly, NSW
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Date
2014-01-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Australasian Quaternary Association Inc
Abstract
Palaeoclimate research using speleothems has significantly increased over the last decade, owing to their potential to provide multi-proxy high resolution (sub-annual) terrestrial records of past climate variability. A crucial step in using these archives as high resolution proxies is understanding the
connectivity between the surface climate and the signal transferred to the speleothem. This study investigates the modern karst hydrology at Yarrangobilly Caves, in the Snowy Mountains NSW. A
high-frequency, spatially-dense drip water monitoring campaign in Harrie Wood Cave, was conducted over a 13 month period to characterise the hydrology of 14 sites within the same cave. By utilising the
cave as a natural observatory we can determine 1) vadose-zone flow regimes, and 2) thresholds of
recharge at the site. Using a statistical approach (PCA and AHC) 5 main drip hydrological regimes
were established. Depth was found to have a moderate relationship (r2 = 0.4) with discharge, whereby increasing depth was associated with a dampening of flow and drip response. However,
depth could not account for all the variability observed in the drip hydrology, suggesting complex
controls unrelated to depth, such as unsaturated zone storage and mixing, appear to have a significant impact on vadose-zone flow regimes. As a speleothem is a function of the infiltrating drip
water, we suggest that stalagmites fed by different drip types may thus contain different parts of the climate record i.e. smoothed mean annual vs. an extreme event record. These findings will be used to
assess three suitable stalagmites for palaeoclimate reconstruction, fed by drip waters with different hydrological regimes and the preliminary results presented here. © Australasian Quaternary Association Inc.
Description
Keywords
Australia, New South Wales, Hydrology, Caves, Groundwater recharge, Paleoclimatology
Citation
Markowska, M., Treble, P. C., Baker, A., Andersen, M. S., & Hankin, S. (2014). Drip hydrology monitoring in caves to inform stalagmite palaeoclimate records, Yarrangobilly, NSW. Paper presented at the AQUA Biennial Meeting, Mildura, Australia, 29th June - 4th July 2014.