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Triple oxygen isotope analysis of cave drip waters: insights into hydrological processes and paleoclimatic reconstruction
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DOI：10.1016/j.gca.2026.07.006.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Speleothem oxygen isotopes are widely used to reconstruct hydroclimate variability, yet how precipitation signals are modified before being archived in speleothems remains poorly constrained, particularly for triple oxygen isotope in monsoonal karst systems. We present multi-year monthly drip water observations from four sites in Furong Cave (Southwest China), analyzed for δD, δ18O, δ17O, d-excess, and Δ′17O to quantify precipitation-to-drip transfer processes. Drip-water δ-values exhibit minimal seasonal variability across sites. Variability attenuation analysis reveals strong damping of δD, δ18O, δ17O, d-excess and its logarithmic form (dln), whereas Δ′17O is less attenuated, suggesting that the combined behavior of δ-values, d-excess, and Δ′17O indicates precipitation signals are transferred to drip water mainly at annual to interannual timescales. Transit time distribution fitting and ISODRIP simulations consistently indicate multi-year response times and site-dependent lags linked to recharge thresholds and flow routing. A two-endmember mixing model reproduces the observed damping while largely preserving meteoric regressions, indicating that mixing alone cannot explain the persistently low drip water δ18O–δD slopes. A low-slope δ18O–δD branch suggests modest pre-cave evaporation, whereas drip water Δ′17O and δ′18O–δ′17O slopes remain precipitation-like, indicating limited alteration of triple-oxygen signatures. We infer that low δ18O–δD slopes reflect weak or near-equilibrium evaporation during recharge followed by mixing-driven homogenization. Overall, these results show that precipitation-to-drip attenuation primarily reflects low-pass filtering by the epikarst–cave reservoir, and they support the use of speleothem Δ′17O to constrain large-scale atmospheric conditions while accounting for storage, mixing, and modest external evaporation.
Keywords:
Cave Monitoring
Drip Water
Triple Oxygen Isotope
Drip Water Line
ISODRIP Simulations
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