Analysis of the environmental sensitivities of a typical dynamic epikarst system at the Nongla monitoring site, Guangxi, China

Nongla, a typical karst dynamic system (KDS) monitoring site, is located at Nongla Village, Mashan County, Guangxi, China. The data from a Greenspan CTDP300 multichannel data logger indicates that the KDS is highly sensitive to environmental changes. Multi-day and diurnal physico-chemical composition of epikarst spring water is quite different under different climatic conditions. During a day with no rainfall, water temperature and air temperature have similar variations. Electrical conductivity (EC) has good positive correlation with pH value and water temperature. During rainstorms, the physico-chemical composition of the spring water is initially strongly effected by dilution, pH and EC drop rapidly. However, half to one hour later, EC returns to normal and the CO₂ effects will be the dominant physical effect. This is due to the high fissure rates and high permeability in the epikarst zone. Dilution effects were observed during the entire rainstorm event,whereas, it only acts during the earliest period of light rain. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the water–rock–CO₂ combination as a whole system to explain the hydrochemical behavior of epikarst processes.