Hydrogen and oxygen isotope signal transmission in rainfall, soil water, and cave drip water in Liangfeng Cave, Southwest China

Abstract

δD and δ¹⁸O isotope signatures were widely used as tracers to investigate recharge processes of rainfall transfer into caves in the vadose zones of karst regions. The present research systematically monitored rainfall, soil water, and drip water at the Liangfeng Cave in Guilin City, China, from January 2020 to September 2022, as these aspects remain poorly quantified. The δD and δ¹⁸O compositions of rainfall were depleted during the rainy season and enriched during the dry season. The local meteoric water line (LMWL) was described as δD = 7.98δ¹⁸O + 11.52. The dry season is mainly characterized by resident soil water, with little mobile soil water, whereas the primary source of recharged drip water is stored bedrock water on the top of the cave. During the rainy season, resident and mobile soil water exchanged with each other, resulting in homogenous δD and δ¹⁸O compositions across different soil depths and indicating a lack of ecohydrological separation; however, δD and δ¹⁸O signature in drip water may differ from the original observed in rainfall, suggesting that the residence time affected the response time of the drip water to rain. Moreover, mixed stored older water in the overlying bedrock was the primary drip water recharge source each season; thus, drip water's isotope amplitude values were more depleted than rainfall's. Distinct flow paths also created differences in the lag time and amplitude at each drip site. During high-intensity rain, the isotopic signals were rapidly transmitted by preferential flow at different soil depths and via drip water. The δD and δ¹⁸O signals in the drip water showed significant depleted excursions several months after high-intensity rainfall. These findings indicate that ecohydrological separation did not occur under any circumstances within the study area, and care should be taken when interpreting significant depleted excursions of δD and δ¹⁸O signals in drip water during the summer monsoon or the amount of rainfall in stalagmites across seasonal or interannual scales.