Unraveling the Drivers Controlling the Transient and Seasonal CO₂ Dynamic in a Shallow Temperate Cave

Abstract

Understanding the dynamics and spatial distribution of gases in the subterranean atmospheres is essential to increase the reliability of carbon balances in karst ecosystems or the paleoclimate reconstructions based on cave deposits. This scientific information is also very valuable for cave managers to ensure the safety of visitors and the conservation of the subterranean heritage. Through a comprehensive monitoring of the main air parameters in a shallow temperate cave, we decipher the physical drivers and mechanisms involved in the CO2 and radon exchange between the cave and the outer atmosphere, and how this process is triggered by the changes of local weather. Our results reveal that the biphasic infiltration (water plus air) in the network of penetrative structures from the overlying soil and host rock exercise remarkable control over the cave environment, delaying the thermal response of the cave air to the outer climate-driven changes and also the gaseous transfer between the cave atmosphere and the exterior. The cave location concerning the karstified outcrop determines that this subterranean site acts as a gas emitter during summer, which is contrary to what happens in many other caves. Prominent gas entrapment at a micro-local level is also registered in some upper galleries.

Keywords

• greenhouse gases
• vadose zone
• monitoring
• ventilation
• karst
• critical zone