Abstract
This study describes the first use of concurrent high-precision temperature and drip rate monitoring to explore what controls the temperature of speleothem forming drip water. Two contrasting sites, one with fast transient and one with slow constant dripping, in a temperate semi-arid location (Wellington, NSW, Australia), exhibit drip water temperatures which deviate significantly from the cave air temperature. We confirm the hypothesis that evaporative cooling is the dominant, but so far unattributed, control causing significant disequilibrium between drip water and host rock/air temperatures. The amount of cooling is dependent on the drip rate, relative humidity and ventilation. Our results have implications for the interpretation of temperature-sensitive, speleothem climate proxies such as δ18O, cave microecology and the use of heat as a tracer in karst. Understanding the processes controlling the temperature of speleothem-forming cave drip waters is vital for assessing the reliability of such deposits as archives of climate change.
Highlights
This study describes the first use of concurrent high-precision temperature and drip rate monitoring to explore what controls the temperature of speleothem forming drip water
The amount of cooling is dependent on the drip rate, relative humidity and ventilation
C ontinuous measurements of cave drip water temperatures at the source have never before been reported in the literature, nor have the controls on their temperature been explored systematically
Summary
This study describes the first use of concurrent high-precision temperature and drip rate monitoring to explore what controls the temperature of speleothem forming drip water. Understanding the processes controlling the temperature of speleothem-forming cave drip waters is vital for assessing the reliability of such deposits as archives of climate change. For assessing the reliability of such deposits as archives of climate change, understanding the processes controlling the temperature of speleothem-forming cave drip waters is of fundamental importance. Our objectives are to test the relative importance of the processes that may affect speleothem drip water temperature by using an innovative approach combining the first use of high resolution temperature and drip rate monitoring in a cave. We demonstrate that drip water temperature may be significantly out of equilibrium with host air and rock temperatures, and that this has implications for speleothem climate proxies, such as d18O in limestone formations, cave micro-ecology and the use of heat as a tracer in karst systems
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