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Dynamic variation of dissolved organic carbon in karst cave waters in a subtropical climatic regime

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Abstract

As a very important and active component of organic carbon, the role of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in a karst dynamic system is worthy of in-depth investigation. Here, we investigated the parameters that affect DOC in the cave waters of Mahuang Cave (wild cave) and Dafeng Cave (show cave) in southwest China during a monitoring period spanning August 2020 to August 2021. Such analysis was conducted by continuously monitoring several environmental indices, including air temperature, precipitation, water temperature, DOC, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), pH, pCO2, electrical conductivity (EC), and anions and cations. Our results revealed that high levels of DOC in cave water appeared after a short dry period in late Autumn 2020 and May 2021. The variation of DOC concentration was mainly controlled by meteorological conditions and was strongly associated with water–rock–air interactions during the monitoring period. However, no significant connection was observed between variations in DOC concentration and caves. We conclude that DOC in cave water could be used as a paleoclimate proxy and that its relevance with karst carbon sink is considerable.

Research highlights

  • Seasonality of DOC variation is controlled by different factors.

  • Type of caves and waters exhibit little influence on variation of DOC concentrations.

  • In addition to meteorological factors, the influence of water-rock interaction on DOC is also significant.

  • DOC in cave water could be used as a paleoclimate proxy and its relevance with karst carbon sink is considerable.

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Acknowledgements

This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 42161048), the Science and Technology Foundation of Guizhou Province (QKHJC-ZK [2021]-191, QKHJC [2020] 1Y154), and the Guizhou Province’s high-level innovative talent training plan ‘hundred’ level talents (Qiankehe platform talents [2016] 5674).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Karst Science, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, 550001, China

    Hui Dong, Zhongfa Zhou, Lihui Yan, Liangxing Shi & Heng Zhang

  2. National Engineering Research Center for Karst Rocky Desertification Control, Guiyang, 550001, China

    Hui Dong, Zhongfa Zhou, Lihui Yan, Liangxing Shi & Heng Zhang

  3. The State Key Laboratory Incubation Base for Karst Mountain Ecology Environment of Guizhou Province, Guiyang, 550001, China

    Hui Dong, Zhongfa Zhou, Lihui Yan, Yong Xiong, Shengjun Ding, Liangxing Shi, Heng Zhang & Jing Huang

Authors
  1. Hui Dong
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  2. Zhongfa Zhou
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  3. Lihui Yan
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  4. Yong Xiong
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  5. Shengjun Ding
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  6. Liangxing Shi
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  7. Heng Zhang
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  8. Jing Huang
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Contributions

HD defined the objectives of the study and prepared the manuscript with contributions from all the co-authors. YX, LS, and SD did the fieldwork. HZ and JH analyzed samples and supported the visualization of data. ZZ and LY supervised the entire research and reviewed the first draft and provided advice for improvement. All authors agree with this submission and the publication of this article.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhongfa Zhou.

Additional information

Communicated by Abhijit Mukherjee

Corresponding editor: Abhijit Mukherjee

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Dong, H., Zhou, Z., Yan, L. et al. Dynamic variation of dissolved organic carbon in karst cave waters in a subtropical climatic regime. J Earth Syst Sci 132, 132 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-023-02148-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-023-02148-4

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