A sustainable development strategy for mining industries in Citatah karst area in Bandung Basin

Citatah karst area is located in the western margin of Bandung Basin, as the only mining area within the basin. However, the pressure from environmentalists to preserve the karst area and change the use of land to become a conservation area or geopark is very high. The study aims to define the strategy to manage karst land in urbanizing areas to support sustainable development. The method of study includes policy and stakeholder analyses. Further analysis will be based on Spatial Multi Criteria Evaluation to apply land suitability analysis to seek the possibility of the Citatah karst area as geotourism and mine tourism. Karst area is an environmental complex system. Broad research to understand human-altered karst landscapes, karst ecosystems, karst disturbance, karst hydrology and also to manage karst lands in urbanizing areas in sustainable manners are needed. The provincial government agency has a master plan to develop the Citatah karst areas like agriculture, tourism, home industry, etc. The research result will support the plan on how to develop an assessment of the geosite and mining site present in Citatah karst area using multi criteria evaluation.

Stalagmite evidence for Early Holocene multidecadal hydroclimate variability in Ethiopia

A multiproxy oxygen and carbon isotope (d13C and d18O), growth rate and trace element stalagmite paleoenvironmental record is presented for the Early Holocene from Achere Cave, Ethiopia. The annually laminated stalagmite grew from 10.6 to 10.4 ka, and from 9.7 to 9.0 ka with a short hiatus at ~9.25 ka. Using oxygen and carbon isotopic, and cave monitoring data, we demonstrate that the stalagmite deposition is out of isotopic equilibrium, yet trace element and isotope geochemistry is sensitive to hydroclimate variability. Variogram analysis of annual growth rate data suggests that this proxy can only contain hydroclimate information over less than 28-year timescales. Statistically significant and coherent spectral frequencies in d13C and d18O are observed at 15-25 and 19-23 years respectively. Combined with compelling evidence for deposition out of isotope equilibrium, the observed ~1 ‰ amplitude variability in stalagmite d18O is likely forced by non-equilibrium deposition, likely due to kinetic effects during the progressive degassing of CO2 from the water film during stalagmite formation. These frequencies are similar to the periodicity reported for Holocene stalagmite records from Ethiopian caves, suggesting that multidecadal variability in stalagmite d18O is typical. We hypothesise that a hydroclimate forcing, such as runs of one or more years of low annual rainfall, is likely to be the primary control on the extent of the partial evaporation of soil and shallow epikarst water, which is subsequently modulated by karst hydrology, and the extent of in-cave non-equilibrium stalagmite deposition. Combined with possible recharge-biases in drip water d18O, modulated by karst hydrology, these processes can generate multidecadal d18O variability which can operate with opposite signs. Comparison of Early Holocene d18O stalagmite records from the monsoon regions of Ethiopia, Oman and central China show different multi-decadal d18O signals, implying regional difference in climate forcing. Seismic activities due to the active tectonics in the region control the frequency of growth gaps (hiatuses) by changing the water flow paths to the stalagmite.

Innovative Approaches for the Sedimentological Characterization of Fine Natural and Anthropogenic Sediments in Karst Systems: The Case of the Apuan Alps (Central Italy)

The Apuan Alps (NW Tuscany) is an important area of Central Italy characterized by large karst systems mainly fed via direct and diffuse water infiltration (autogenic recharge). These waters usually transport a clastic sediment load, originated by natural, surface and subsurface rock erosion/weathering which, in part, is deposited underground. In the Apuan Alps, during extreme rain event, huge amounts of carbonate powder, produced as a waste resulting from the quarrying operations of the famous “Carrara” marble, mix up with meteoric waters forming a slurry that is transported through the karst openings into the caves, where the carbonate powder may be deposited along with natural sediments. Depending upon karst hydrology and water fluxes, the slurry may eventually reach karst springs heavily reducing water quality. Mineralogical composition of the sediments collected along karst waterways and springs shows variable proportions of calcite associated with dolomite and silicates particles whereas the marble powder samples from quarry areas are mainly composed by calcite grains. Cave deposits of natural origin have usually a fine-sand grain size whereas spring sediments have a more variable grain-size distribution. Marble powder mainly has a silt grain size and produces a sort of “granulometric and morphometric pollution” which influences the transport mechanism of solid load through the karst systems along both vadose and phreatic waterways.

Tales from the Underground: Speleothem Records of Past Hydroclimate

Geochemical records from speleothems have significantly advanced our understanding of natural climate variability over the last ~600,000 years. Speleothems are sensitive recorders of past changes in hydroclimate because they can be precisely dated and contain multiple hydrologically sensitive geochemical proxies. Oxygen isotope records from speleothems tell us about the timing and mechanisms of past changes in precipitation amount, temperature, atmospheric circulation, and/or global monsoon intensity. Variations in speleothem carbon isotope ratios or trace element concentrations reflect changes in local water balance, vegetation, and karst hydrology. Speleothem paleoclimate records represent a window into the past that can provide crucial information for understanding how anthropogenic climate change and natural climate variability will impact future water resources on Earth.

The karst and the furious – ways to keep calm when dealing with karst hydrology

<p>The dissolution of carbonate rock ‘karstification’ creates pronounced surface and subsurface heterogeneity and results in complex flow and transport dynamics. Consequently, water resources managers face significant challenges keeping calm when dealing with karst water resources especially in times of environmental change. My lecture not only will provide an overview of the peculiarities of karst hydrology but it will also offer some approaches that facilitate the assessment of environmental changes on karst water resources. Using two case studies, one at the plot scale and the other at the scale of an entire continent, I will contrast the opportunities and challenges of dealing with karst across different scales and climatic regions. Along these case studies, I will elaborate (1) how understanding on dominant karst processes can be obtained, (2) how this understanding can be incorporated into karst specific modelling approaches, and (3) how karst models developed at different scales can be used for water management. The presentation will conclude with some thoughts to facilitate less furious implementations of karst approaches for everyone.</p>

Coastal groundwater stable isotope composition as predictor and measure of marine pollution

<p>There are numerous health hazards arising from recreational exposures to microbiologically polluted marine environments. Microbial contaminants from catchment areas of coastal and submarine springs (due to leakages of private septic tanks and/or faults in sewage systems) could be a cause of microbial marine quality worsening after heavy rainfalls. Before testing this hypothesis groundwater dynamics should be known. Stable isotopes of water have been proven to be a very useful tool in karst hydrology and we used them as a mediator variable in predicting marine coastal water microbial contamination. <br>We refer to the problem of the pollution from the position of environmental economics and economic institutional mechanism design, where such ecological problems are described as either stock or flow problems. Stock pollution is strongly dependent on the concentration potentials of the pollutant in the medium. Flow pollution depends on the speed of emission of the pollutant in the medium, as well as on the rate of its depletion by natural causes. On the example of fecal indicator bacteria Escherichia coli and enterococci propagating through karstic underground and finally ending in seawater we show how stable isotope composition of coastal springs’ water can be used to differentiate marine pollution into stock or flow. <br>We tested the approach on two close coastal locations located at the Kvarner Bay (the Northern part of the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea). Locations differ in terms of the open and closed sea as well as anthropogenic pressure. Groundwater and marine samples were collected during two consecutive bathing seasons (mid-May – mid-September). The Panel Data Pairwise Granger Causality test was used to test for statistical associations. Static Estimated General Least Squares (EGLS) and dynamic Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) statistical methods were used to distinguish between stock and flow pollution. </p><p>This work was partially supported by the University of Rijeka as part of the research projects uniri-pr-prirod-19-24 and uniri-biomed-18-292.</p>

The karst and the furious – ways to keep calm when dealing with karst hydrology

<p>The dissolution of carbonate rock ‘karstification’ creates pronounced surface and subsurface heterogeneity and results in complex flow and transport dynamics. Consequently, water resources managers face significant challenges keeping calm when dealing with karst water resources especially in times of environmental change. My lecture not only will provide an overview of the peculiarities of karst hydrology but it will also offer some approaches that facilitate the assessment of environmental changes on karst water resources. Using two case studies, one at the plot scale and the other at the scale of an entire continent, I will contrast the opportunities and challenges of dealing with karst across different scales and climatic regions. In particular, I will elaborate (1) how understanding on dominant karst processes can be obtained, (2) how this understanding can be incorporated into karst specific modelling approaches, and (3) how karst models developed at different scales can be used for water management and water governance. The presentation will conclude with some thoughts to facilitate less furious implementations of karst approaches for everyone.</p>