A global experimental system approach of karst springs' hydrographs and chemographs

Investigation techniques for karst flow systems are based mainly on the study of different signals leaving the system caused by natural or induced external influences. Each signal represents one of the systems outputs (e.g., hydraulic, chemical, physical, or isotopic responses) that reflect the characteristics of the entire system. In this paper, we present a method to infer information about the structure of karst systems. It is based on a simultaneous analysis of chemical and hydraulic responses. Beside the classical piston flow at the beginning of a flood pulse, we define a chemically based recession flow phase. During this phase, field data show that the concentration of total dissolved solids can be considered as an exponential function of the logarithm of flow. This relationship allows two parameters to be defined, one of which is dependent on the structure and degree of development of the karst conduit network, the other is dependent mainly on bioclimatic factors. Data collected from seven karst springs are used to support ideas introduced in the paper.