The Philip M. Smith Graduate Research
Grant for Cave and Karst Research
2023 Grants
Meghan Forbes ($1,100)
Department of Earth
Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences
Western Kentucky University
Sinkhole Hazard Assessment Index and Risk Analysis to Inform Karst Policy and Mitigation Planning
Abstract: Sinkholes are
geologic hazards that occur in karst landscapes that can be highly
destructive and costly. It is unknown how much sinkholes cost per year
and sinkhole-related policies are nonexistent on a federal level and
nearly nonexistent at the state level. This is partly due to the need
for a method to quantify and assess sinkhole cost and risk over time. A
lack of awareness has led to the continuation of the development and
urbanization of sinkhole-risk areas, which put lives and property at
risk. This study will attempt to characterize sinkhole threats to aid
in the creation of a method to quantify sinkhole potential cost and
risk, including the morphometry and scale of bedrock collapse
sinkholes, which are less common, but highly destructive. In addition,
a comparison and contrast of existing sinkhole policies and regulations
to assess how well they measure the characteristics of sinkhole hazards
will occur; however, karst landscapes are inhomogeneous, and it is
unlikely that a “one size fits all” policy approach will be found
effective. The goal of this study is to create a method that can be
used to quantify the risk associated with sinkholes to influence better
development practices and policy implementation. Once the study is
completed, a sinkhole hazard index tool will be created that can be
used by developers, environmental managers, and policymakers to inform
urban karst development decisions based on environmental, economic, and
social factors.
Jayde Hirniak ($2,600)
Arizona State University
School of Human Evolution and Social Change,
Institute of Human Origins
The Use of Cryptotephra to Develop
More Refined age Estimates of Sediment Deposition and Human Occupations
at Archaeological Sites, Boomplaas Cave and Border Cave, South Africa
Abstract: Constructing robust
age estimates and age models for archaeological sites is essential for
accurately interpreting the past. South Africa, in particular, is an
area of interest due to its rich archaeological record and evidence of
early modern human behavior. However, understanding the timing of
specific human activities throughout this region has been difficult due
to the lack of reliable age models and challenging depositional
contexts. Most archaeological sites throughout this region are
preserved in cave or rock shelters (e.g., PP13B, Klasies River,
Border Cave) with considerable variation in sediment types and
material that can be directly dated. Current dating methods provide
estimates of occupational histories but at ~10% errors (e.g., Border
Cave), which can be problematic when reconstructing depositional
events or intricate behaviors. Therefore, the aim of this study is to
provide an alternative dating method that can improve age models of
archaeological and environmental deposits throughout the region. I will
use cryptotephra, or microscopic volcanic glass, to help develop and
refine age models at Boomplaas Cave and Border Cave. I will also
examine deposits from Tswaing Crater cores to better understand the
complete cryptotephra record and potentially link deposits to the
paleoenvironmental record. This study is significant to cave and karst
studies because it will provide a tool that can help: 1) reconstruct
depositional and post-depositional processes of cave sediments at
Boomplaas Cave and Border Cave and 2) understand cave usage by
prehistoric peoples throughout the last 200,000 years through the lens
of environmental change.
Grace Herrmann ($1,000)
Department of Earth
Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences
Western Kentucky University
Perceptions and Visual Awareness of Karst Flooding in Urban Areas to Inform Management and Hazard Preparedness
Abstract: Awareness and perception of flooding can heavily
impact how an individual or community prepares and the risks posed due
to understanding or lack thereof. Flood awareness can also be impacted
by other factors like past flood experience, which affect perceptions
differently based on observations in past studies, including the
various types and causes of flooding. Flooding in karst landscapes can
vary from other types of flooding and neither perception nor awareness
of karst flooding has been directly explored. This study will explore
karst flood awareness and perception and how they are influenced by
flood experience, geographical changes, development, and related
factors through a policy review, surveys, and cognitive mapping
activities. This study will aim to increase the understanding of flood
awareness in karst environments based on quantifying flood risk
understanding and ways in which people relate impacts to karst
environment. Bowling Green, Kentucky will be used as a case study given
its long history of development and being an urban karst area with
frequent flooding issues. Comparisons between using surveys and
cognitive mapping activities to gain flood awareness data, along with
comparisons to factors like the National Flood Insurance Program and
FEMA flood maps to identify any differences between flood management
and survey results will be completed. This research can be used to
explore potential policy and management practices changes for flood
prevention that can be implemented in urban karst areas through
development of improved practices for stormwater and drainage design in
karst areas
Niles Lathrop ($2,200)
Department of Earth
Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences
Western Kentucky University
Distinguishing Speleogenetic Origin from Variations in Cave Sedimentation Across a Montane Karst Landscape
Abstract: Caves in the Permian-aged McCloud Limestone of the Klamath Mountains of Northern
California preserve a diverse range of clastic sediments which
represent broad-scale variations in paleo-hydrologic conditions and
transport mechanisms that hint at varied modes of speleogenesis through
local landscape development. Caves in the McCloud Limestone exhibit a
range of cave passage geometries and arrangements that suggests periods
of both hypogene and epigene cave development through temporal and
spatial scales. This study aims to evaluate the variability in the
distribution, mineralogy, and transport mechanisms of clastic cave
sediments in eight hydrologically distinct caves in the McCloud
Limestone to establish relationships between clastic cave sedimentation
and paleo-hydrologic conditions and speleogenesis. This study will use
a combination of detailed cave mapping, facies relationships, particle
size distribution statistics, and mineralogical analysis to
differentiate depositional conditions, provenance, and hydrologic
control on the deposition of clastic material in a range of suspected
polygenetic cave environments. Patterns of sedimentary texture and
provenance will aid in distinguishing speleogenetic origin by grouping
caves by the paleo-hydrologic controls which transported clastic
deposits and interacted with surrounding cave passages. Quantitative
techniques such as particle size C-M plots, X-ray powder diffraction,
and petrographic microscope analysis will be employed to evaluate
sedimentary textures and constituent mineralogy. As a result,
variability in cave sediment depositional characteristics will aid in
distinguishing paleo-hydrologic conditions and shed light on variations
in the origin of cave genesis in the polygenetic hypogene – epigene
montane karst landscape of the McCloud Limestone of Northern California.
Trayson Lawler ($1,200)
Department of Earth
Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences
Western Kentucky University
A Real-Time Predictive Flood Model for Urban Karst Environments
Abstract: Urban karst
environments are often plagued by groundwater flooding, a type of
flooding where water rises from the subsurface to the surface through
the underlying caves and karst features. The heterogeneity and duality
of karst systems make them very unpredictable, especially during
intense storm events and residents in such areas are frequently
disturbed and financially burdened by the effects of karst groundwater
flooding. The City of Bowling Green, Kentucky experiences frequent,
unpredictable groundwater flooding making it the ideal study area for
this project. This project attempts to aid the flooding problem in
Bowling Green through the creation of a predictive flood model for the
Lost River Basin – a 150 km2 groundwater basin that contains most of
the city. The machine learning model will be trained using
precipitation and antecedent moisture conditions to predict
fluctuations of the potentiometric surface. High-resolution data
monitoring of 1-minute intervals have been employed at 53 water level
monitoring sites and 15 precipitation sites to ensure accuracy of the
model. As a result, this study will give advanced warning for flood
events, offer additional information on the storage and response times
of the aquifer, and create a robust and reproducible methodology for
other flood- prone, urban karst areas to help mitigate flooding impacts.
Meghan Raines ($2,000)
Department of Earth
Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences
Western Kentucky Universit
Landscape/atmosphere Interactions and Carbon Dioxide Dynamics in the Great Onyx Groundwater Basin, Mammoth
Cave National Park, Kentucky
Abstract: An increase in atmospheric CO2 since the Industrial Revolution has
altered rates of global climate change and has incited a need to
quantify the flux of carbon between Earth’s reservoirs. Attempts to
quantify the exchange of carbon between sources and sinks has led to an
increasing interest in the terrestrial landscape, including the carbon
sink associated with carbonate mineral dissolution. This research will
attempt to better inform an understanding of karst landscapes and their
relationship with global climate change through carbon cycling. The
study is utilizing high- resolution data collection of pH, temperature,
and specific conductance at ten-minute intervals over a year-long study
period from November 2022 to November 2023. Absolute pressure, air
barometric pressure, and water temperature readings to calculate water
level are also being measured at ten-minute intervals to correlate to
discharge measurements. Water samples collected on bi-weekly monitoring
trips are being analyzed for major cations, anions, and alkalinity.
Using linear regression analysis, the study will quantify the dissolved
inorganic carbon mass flux between the landscape and the atmosphere
during this year-long period. Expected results should show the waters
of the sample site are undersaturated with respect to the limestone
bedrock, and thus continually dissolving. Seasonal variations should
illustrate how dissolution rate is influenced mainly by atmospheric CO2
in the cool season and by both atmospheric and soil CO2 concentrations
in the warm season. If undersaturation of the sample waters is
occurring, it will indicate that CO2 is being removed from the
atmosphere through the process of carbonate dissolution.
Ryan Stumbaugh ($2,000)
University of New Mexico Department of Biology
Variation in Nitrogen-Cycling Microbial Communities and Genetic Potential Within Lava Caves
Abstract: Caves systems are a
valuable reservoir of different microbial lifeforms, housing thousands
of species of Archaea and Bacteria. However, the microbes that live in
caves, especially those that live in volcanic caves, such as those on
the Big Island of Hawai`i, are largely undescribed. Volcanic caves are
rich in deposits of less common elements and chemical compounds that
allow intriguing adaptations of microbes to thrive in the challenging
conditions of their environment. The limited research that has been
done has revealed a vast array of microbes that are adapted to living
in these dark, underexplored ecosystems. Yet many of these microbes and
their environmental nutrient sources, specifically nitrogen, within the
lava caves have had limited scientific analysis. To address this, we
propose research in caves in the drier regions of the Big Island of
Hawai'i to understand the diversity and functionality of these
microbial communities and how they contribute to lava cave nitrogen
cycling. Microbial deposits and wall rock will be sampled across three
lava cave systems. The 16S rRNA genes will be analyzed using next
generation sequencing. Nitrogen cycling genes will be identified using
qPCR with highly degenerate primers. Acid dissolution and bulk
chemistry analysis will be done on the basaltic wall rock samples for
elemental analysis and to check for the presence of nitrogen-based
compounds. By exploring these systems, we can examine the different
metabolic potentials of these microbes. Doing so offers a rare
opportunity to discover novel microbial metabolic processes, microbial
community nutrient cycling dynamics and illuminate microbial life's
ecological role in lava caves.