Variación espacio-temporal de Ca-Mg-Sr en el agua de goteo de la Cueva del Canelobre (Alicante): ejemplo de procesos de infiltración en ambientes kársticos semiáridos

Abstract

From may/2006 to april/2007 a monthly sampling of the recharge conditions and main hydrogeochemical parameters was conducted at a network of dripping points within Canelobre cave (Alicante). Speleothems are fed by a combination of seepage and fracture water, indicating that the system consists of a matrix with a network of discontinuities (fractures or conduits) with different characteristics. Control of Mg/Ca and Sr/ Ca indexes has provided data to identify several water infiltration processes into the vadose zone under arid conditions: ranges of flow-through times to drips, prior calcite precipitation and dissolution of Mg and Sr. Both indexes depend on the discharge intensity, though their variability adjust to a spatial framework determined by cave geomorphology (grade of karst development, stratigraphic contacts and fractures).