Timing the transport of water through the upper vadose zone in a Karstic system above a cave in Israel

Abstract

Abstract Chemical and isotopic analysis of karst water dripping over a one year period from seeps in a cave above the Cenomanian aquifer in the Judea hills of Israel lead to several conclusions: (i) The tritium ages and the chemical composition of water from different seeps in a karstic cave vary greatly, (ii) The reservoirs in the upper part of the vadose zone hold water for up to several decades, (iii) Some of the cave seeps are mixtures of the old and more recent meteoric water from paths of different length, (iv) The history of storm events can only be traced in some of the seeps, (v) For most dripping seeps there is no immediate response of seepage discharge to the rainfall intensity and quantity—i.e. the seepage discharge is fairly constant.