Integrated cave drip monitoring for epikarst recharge estimation in a dry Mediterranean area, Sif Cave, Israel

Sheffer, N. A.; Cohen, M.; Morin, Efrat; Grodek, Tamir; Gimburg, A.; Magal, Einat; Gvirtzman, Haim; Nied, Manuela; Isele, Daniel; Frumkin, Amos

doi:10.1002/hyp.8046

Cited by 46 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(36 reference statements)

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“…Similar observations have been described and analysed in multiple studies, highlighting the buffering role of the epikarst in water infiltration (e.g. Genty and Deflandre, 1998;Poulain et al, 2015;Sheffer et al, 2011;Aquilina et al, 2003). Arbel et al (2010) distinguish perennial drip discharge, which explains the 295 bottom threshold visible in PWD2 and PWD3 in summer (Fig.…”

Section: 2supporting

confidence: 83%

“…Firstly, the role of the soil and epikarst is evidenced as being very dynamic (D1) with regard to the atmospheric inputs. This reactivity indicates a limited buffering role for the epikarst in terms of hydrological recharge, as evidenced by previous studies (Aquilina et al, 2003;Bakalowicz, 2005;Ford and Williams, 2008;Genty and Deflandre, 1998;Poulain et al, 2015;Sheffer et al, 2011). Indeed, the likely very thin epikarst in the middle of the plateau as pointed out by the resistivity images and other field 885 observations strongly limits water storage.…”

Section: Resistivity Dynamics As Markers For Karst Hydrologysupporting

confidence: 61%

“…Nevertheless, these water reservoirs are likely to be seasonally influenced and laterally heterogeneous, interacting with the soil and biosphere through evapotranspiration, while seeping under gravity, or by overflow after intense rainfall events (Clemens et al, 1999;Goldscheider and Drew, 2007;Sheffer et al, 2011). Such 50 leakage down to the infiltration zone therefore ranges from very slow seepages within the carbonated matrix porosity to quick flows through fractures and cracks in the carbonated rocks (Atkinson, 1977;Smart and Friederich, 1986).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Imaging groundwater infiltration dynamics in karst vadose zone with long-term ERT monitoring

Watlet¹,

Kaufmann²,

Triantafyllou³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Abstract. Water infiltration and recharge processes in karst systems are complex and difficult to measure with conventional hydrological methods. Especially, temporarily saturated groundwater reservoirs hosted in the 15 vadose zone can play a buffering role in water infiltration. This results from the pronounced porosity and permeability contrasts created by local karstification processes of carbonated rocks. Analyses of time-lapse 2-D geoelectrical imaging over a period of three years at the Rochefort Cave Laboratory (RCL) site in South Belgium highlight variable hydrodynamics in a karst vadose zone. These data were compared to conventional hydrological measurements (drip discharge monitoring, soil moisture and water conductivity data sets) and a 20 detailed structural analysis of the local geological structures providing a thorough understanding of the groundwater infiltration. Seasonal changes affect all the imaged areas leading to increases in resistivity in spring/summer attributed to enhanced evapotranspiration, whereas winter is characterised by a general decrease in resistivity associated with a groundwater recharge of the vadose zone. Three types of hydrological dynamics, corresponding to areas with distinct lithological and structural features, could be identified via changes in 25 resistivity: (i) upper conductive layers, associated with clay-rich soil and epikarst, showing the highest variability related to weather conditions; (ii) deeper and more resistive limestone areas, characterised by variable degrees of porosity and clay contents, hence showing more diffuse seasonal variations; (iii) a conductive fractured zone associated with damped seasonal dynamics, while showing a great variability similar to that of the upper layers in response to rainfall events. This study provides detailed images of the sources of drip discharge spots 30 traditionally monitored in caves and aims to support modelling approaches of karst hydrological processes.

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Section: 2supporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Resistivity Dynamics As Markers For Karst Hydrologysupporting

confidence: 61%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Imaging groundwater infiltration dynamics in karst vadose zone with long-term ERT monitoring

Watlet¹,

Kaufmann²,

Triantafyllou³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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“…150 mm for the shallow and 240 mm for the deep soil moisture plots. Cave drip studies in the region Lange et al, 2010;Sheffer et al, 2011) measured similar thresholds for the initiation of percolation through the epikarst (100-220 mm).…”

Section: Simulation Of the Plot-scale Water Balancementioning

confidence: 86%

Recharge estimation and soil moisture dynamics in a Mediterranean, semi-arid karst region

Ries

Lange

Schmidt³

et al. 2015

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Knowledge of soil moisture dynamics in the unsaturated soil zone provides valuable information on the temporal and spatial variability of groundwater recharge. This is especially true for the Mediterranean region, where a substantial fraction of long-term groundwater recharge is expected to occur during high magnitude precipitation events of aboveaverage wet winters. To elucidate process understanding of infiltration processes during these extreme events, a monitoring network of precipitation gauges, meteorological stations, and soil moisture plots was installed in an area with a steep climatic gradient in the Jordan Valley region. In three soil moisture plots, Hydrus-1D was used to simulate water movement in the unsaturated soil zone with soil hydraulic parameters estimated by the Shuffled Complex Evolution Metropolis algorithm. To generalize our results, we modified soil depth and rainfall input to simulate the effect of the pronounced climatic gradient and soil depth variability on percolation fluxes and applied the calibrated model to a time series with 62 years of meteorological data.Soil moisture measurements showed a pronounced seasonality and suggested rapid infiltration during heavy rainstorms. Hydrus-1D successfully simulated short and longterm soil moisture patterns, with the majority of simulated deep percolation occurring during a few intensive rainfall events. Temperature drops in a nearby groundwater well were observed synchronously with simulated percolation pulses, indicating rapid groundwater recharge mechanisms. The 62-year model run yielded annual percolation fluxes of up to 66 % of precipitation depths during wet years and of 0 % during dry years. Furthermore, a dependence of recharge on the temporal rainfall distribution could be shown. Strong correlations between depth of recharge and soil depth were also observed.

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“…However, the study preferentially selected sites that were actively dripping, and so is limited in its ability to upscale the observations to describe water flow through the karst aquifer on a larger spatial scale. In the same region, another study went some way to address this, by using PVC sheeting in two areas of the cave to integrate water collection over multiple drip sites (in the order of 100 drips and up to 52 m 2 ) (Sheffer et al, 2011). Again three flow regimes were identified (see Table 1) and a rainfall threshold of approx.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatially dense drip hydrological monitoring and infiltration behaviour at the Wellington Caves, South East Australia

Jex¹,

Mariethoz²,

Baker³

et al. 2012

IJS

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Despite the fact that karst regions are recognised as significant groundwater resources, the nature of groundwater flow paths in the unsaturated zone of such fractured rock is at present poorly understood. Many traditional methods for constraining groundwater flow regimes in karst aquifers are focussed on the faster drainage components and are unable to inform on the smaller fracture or matrix-flow components of the system. Caves however, offer a natural inception point to observe both the long term storage and the preferential movement of water through the unsaturated zone of such fractured carbonate rock by monitoring of drip rates of stalactites, soda straws and seepage from fractures/micro fissures that emerge in the cave ceiling. Here we present the largest spatial survey of automated cave drip rate monitoring published to date with the aim of better understanding both karst drip water hydrogeology and the relationship between drip hydrology and surface climate. By the application of cross correlation functions and multi-dimensional scaling, clustered by k-means technique, we demonstrate the nature of the relationships between drip behaviour and initial surface infiltration and similarity amongst the drip rate time series themselves that may be interpreted in terms of flow regimes and cave chamber morphology and lithology.

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Integrated cave drip monitoring for epikarst recharge estimation in a dry Mediterranean area, Sif Cave, Israel

Cited by 46 publications

References 33 publications

Imaging groundwater infiltration dynamics in karst vadose zone with long-term ERT monitoring

Imaging groundwater infiltration dynamics in karst vadose zone with long-term ERT monitoring

Recharge estimation and soil moisture dynamics in a Mediterranean, semi-arid karst region

Spatially dense drip hydrological monitoring and infiltration behaviour at the Wellington Caves, South East Australia

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