Caves demonstrate decrease in rainfall recharge of southwest Australian groundwater is unprecedented for the last 800 years
Abstract Billions of people worldwide rely on groundwater. As rainfall in many regions in the future is projected to decrease, it is critical to understand the impacts of climate change on groundwater recharge. The groundwater recharge response to a sustained decrease in rainfall across southwest Au...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Communications Earth & Environment |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00858-7 |
| _version_ | 1797806547706839040 |
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| author | Stacey C. Priestley Pauline C. Treble Alan D. Griffiths Andy Baker Nerilie J. Abram Karina T. Meredith |
| author_facet | Stacey C. Priestley Pauline C. Treble Alan D. Griffiths Andy Baker Nerilie J. Abram Karina T. Meredith |
| author_sort | Stacey C. Priestley |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Billions of people worldwide rely on groundwater. As rainfall in many regions in the future is projected to decrease, it is critical to understand the impacts of climate change on groundwater recharge. The groundwater recharge response to a sustained decrease in rainfall across southwest Australia that began in the late 1960s was examined in seven modern speleothems and drip waters from four caves. These show a pronounced increase or uptick in regional drip water and speleothem oxygen isotopic composition (δ18O) that is not driven by a change in rainfall δ18O values, but is in response to the shallow karst aquifers becoming disconnected from rainfall recharge due to regional drying. Our findings imply that rainfall recharge to groundwater may no longer be reliably occurring in this region, which is highly dependent on groundwater resources. Examination of the longer speleothem record shows that this situation is unprecedented over the last 800 years. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T06:08:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-eb979ae23cd049f39a5af7a813b870e7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2662-4435 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T06:08:55Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Earth & Environment |
| spelling | doaj.art-eb979ae23cd049f39a5af7a813b870e72023-06-11T11:26:11ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Earth & Environment2662-44352023-06-014111210.1038/s43247-023-00858-7Caves demonstrate decrease in rainfall recharge of southwest Australian groundwater is unprecedented for the last 800 yearsStacey C. Priestley0Pauline C. Treble1Alan D. Griffiths2Andy Baker3Nerilie J. Abram4Karina T. Meredith5ANSTOANSTOANSTOSchool of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW SydneyResearch School of Earth Sciences, Australian National UniversityANSTOAbstract Billions of people worldwide rely on groundwater. As rainfall in many regions in the future is projected to decrease, it is critical to understand the impacts of climate change on groundwater recharge. The groundwater recharge response to a sustained decrease in rainfall across southwest Australia that began in the late 1960s was examined in seven modern speleothems and drip waters from four caves. These show a pronounced increase or uptick in regional drip water and speleothem oxygen isotopic composition (δ18O) that is not driven by a change in rainfall δ18O values, but is in response to the shallow karst aquifers becoming disconnected from rainfall recharge due to regional drying. Our findings imply that rainfall recharge to groundwater may no longer be reliably occurring in this region, which is highly dependent on groundwater resources. Examination of the longer speleothem record shows that this situation is unprecedented over the last 800 years.https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00858-7 |
| spellingShingle | Stacey C. Priestley Pauline C. Treble Alan D. Griffiths Andy Baker Nerilie J. Abram Karina T. Meredith Caves demonstrate decrease in rainfall recharge of southwest Australian groundwater is unprecedented for the last 800 years Communications Earth & Environment |
| title | Caves demonstrate decrease in rainfall recharge of southwest Australian groundwater is unprecedented for the last 800 years |
| title_full | Caves demonstrate decrease in rainfall recharge of southwest Australian groundwater is unprecedented for the last 800 years |
| title_fullStr | Caves demonstrate decrease in rainfall recharge of southwest Australian groundwater is unprecedented for the last 800 years |
| title_full_unstemmed | Caves demonstrate decrease in rainfall recharge of southwest Australian groundwater is unprecedented for the last 800 years |
| title_short | Caves demonstrate decrease in rainfall recharge of southwest Australian groundwater is unprecedented for the last 800 years |
| title_sort | caves demonstrate decrease in rainfall recharge of southwest australian groundwater is unprecedented for the last 800 years |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00858-7 |
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