Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-1-2017

Abstract

© 2017, National Speleological Society Inc. All rights reserved. A feasibility study using beryllium-7 (7Be) as a tracer of the movement of sediment through a karstic basin over short timescales of 2 to 3 months was undertaken. If7Be is an effective tracer of sediment movement, then the average7Be activity measured on sediment collected from backwater facies after high-flow events would be higher than that measured after periods of low-flow conditions. To test this, sediment was collected along a cave stream in Hidden River Cave, Kentucky, U.S.A. At the most basic level, collected sediment had measureable7Be activities, so using7Be to track movement of sediment from the surface into karstic basins is a viable method. In addition, the measured 7Be activities were higher after a period of rainfall and presumably high flow events (> 1 d m−1 g−1) than after a period of relatively few rainfall events and presumably low-flow conditions (0.16 d m−1 g−1).

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Journal of Cave and Karst Studies

First Page

84

Last Page

88

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