Quantitative hermeneutics: Counting forestructures on a path from W.M. Davis to the concept of multiple-permeability karst aquifers

Vacher, H. L.; Florea, Lee J.

doi:10.5038/1827-806x.44.3.1

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 117 publications

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“…The dissolution of carbonate bedrock occurs through either epigenetic or hypogenetic pathways, meaning from the top down or the bottom up. In this sense, the relatively young science of caves and karst, speleology [1][2][3], has developed physical and chemical dichotomies of thought leading to end-member paradigms in a field of poorly understood, highly heterogeneous behavior. This case study is centered in south-central Indiana, USA, and consists of two parts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Divergent Geochemical Pathways of Carbonate Aquifer Evolution in a Classic Karst Terrain: (1) Polygenetic Cave Development Identified Using Longitudinal Groundwater Geochemistry

Burgess,

Florea,

Branam

2023

Water

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Carbonic acid and sulfuric acid speleogenesis describe a dichotomy between epigenetic and hypogenetic caves and carbon and sulfur cycling in karst, but do not acknowledge the global spectrum of cave formation. This paper, part one of a two-part investigation, tests and revises speleogenetic models from a classic karst landscape using dissolved ion concentrations δ13CDIC, and δ34S in water samples collected at four sites across the Bluespring and Lost River karst basins in the Mitchell Plateau, Indiana, USA. Analyses revealed elevated sulfur in both karst basins but differently sourced; H2S (δ34S = −14.2‰) evolved from petroleum seeps in Bluespring Caverns accounted for up to 61% of sulfur in the cave stream, while evaporite beds (δ34S = [+14.50‰, +17.91‰]) of the St. Louis Limestone contributed up to 100% of sulfur at Orangeville Rise, a terminal spring of the Lost River karst basin. These results have implications for carbon–sulfur cycle linkages, particularly the potential acceleration of carbon flux from sulfuric acid dissolution in otherwise epigenetic settings. We suggest a new paradigm for speleogenesis in the North American midcontinent—speleogenesis in the Mitchell Plateau and similar settings is not epigenetic or hypogenetic, but instead polygenetic with competing chemical processes varying across space and time.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%