Water Temperature in Karst

Abstract

Measurements of water temperature in karst make it possible to answer numerous questions related to water circulation, its origin, retention time underground, etc. In order to determine thermal changes such measurements should be carried out with sensitive equipment, since these variations have very small amplitudes, i.e. very often, a few tenths of 1 °C. According to Komatina (1984), favourable conditions exist in karst for the application of geothermal investigations while detecting and monitoring the spatial position of the groundwater flows; therefore, both the karst mass and the groundwater flow cause temperature anomalies measurable even at the surface of the terrain. Komatina (1984) reported that the anomalies depend upon the following factors: (1) temperature of the groundwater; (2) depth, settlement and size of the groundwater flow; (3) degree of karstification of the medium between the flow and the terrain surface.