1. Environmental Scientist M.Sc. 2010
Water chemistry analyses in the Baradla and Béke Caves using Multivariate Exploratory Techniques
Edit Borbás – ELTE
Environmental Scientist M.Sc. 2010
ISZA 2011, Győr

2. Outline Introduction Aims of the study Water sampling
Location
Geology and Hydrology
Research History
Aims of the study
Water sampling
Hydrochemical analysis
Multivariate Exploratory
Techniques
Summary
Acknowledgements

3. Location of the caves studied
Located in Northeast Hungary, Gömör-Torna-Karst, in the Aggtelek National Park
World Cultural and Natural Heritage, UNESCO (1995)
Baradla Cave

4. Geology and hydrology of the caves
Baradla Cave
Baradla-Domica Cave system: 27 km, Béke cave:7 km
Developed in Triassic limestone
partly overlaid by Pannon sediment and partly uncovered karst
filling-erosion cycle
Creeks in the caves are temporary active (sink-holes on the surface, infiltration)
Béke Cave
Baradla cave:
Short Lower Cave – 1km (Jósva-Táró spring)
Long Lower Cave – 150m (Jósva-Medence spring)
The evolution of the Baradla Cave (Berényi et al., 2006) showing how the cave filled up with sediment and how the sediment was transported from the cave by the floods of the creeks
Béke Cave

5. Research history
The study of the cave sediment began in 2002 (Niphargus Cave Research Group)
the main mineral component of the sediment is quartz
Radon measurements in 2003
water was observed in the sediment
Observation wells settled between 2004 and 2008:
Baradla Cave: Olympos well (6.45 m), Styx well (4.75 m)
Béke Cave at the 86 reference mapping point: Béke well (4.7m)
2006: water level monitoring in the Olympos well close connection between the weather conditions and the water level in the observation well
Styx well closed and open
The effect of spring snow break on the water level of the Olympos well in 2006 (Berényi et al., 2006) (the straight line shows the level of the terrain, mBf = meters above Baltic Sea level)

6. Aims of the study
To sample the water and conduct hydrochemical analyses on the samples retrieved from the caves, and the springs on the surface
To determine the connection between the water in the observation wells and the other sampling locations of the caves’ system
To observe, if and how the chemical contents of the creeks and sediment waters changed during the snowbreak in February 2010
To compare the measurements’ results to the archive data ( & )

7. Sampling locations on the surface
Samples from the:
wells settled in the sediment
creeks in the caves
springs on the surface
Baradla Cave
Béke Cave
2km
Sampling locations on the surface
EOV-X
EOV-Y
Táró spring
349980
760520
Medence spring
349990
Komlós spring
349694
760763
„Ház-sarki” spring
349772
760813
Sampling points in the caves:
Baradla Cave: Styx creek, Styx well, Olympos well,
Olympos pit
Béke Cave: Komlós creek, Béke well
Baradla Cave
Béke Cave

8. Medence spring
Táró spring
Styx creek
Olympos well
Komlós spring
„Ház-sarki” spring
Olympos pit
Baradla Cave
Béke Cave
Styx well
Komlós creek
Béke well

9. Material and methods Own hydrochemical analyses
November 2009 – April 2010
10 sampling locations, 94 samples (1316 data)
Examined chemical parameters
(according to the Hungarian standards):
Ca2+, Mg2+, HCO3-, Cl- (mg/l)(Titrimetric Method)
Na+, K+ (mg/l)(Flame Photometric Method )
NH4+, NO3-, NO2-, SO42- , PO43- (mg/l) (Spectrometric Method)
Temperature (0C)
Electrical conductivity (mS/cm), pH

10. Materials and methods Water sampling Hydrochemical analyses Results
Chemical composition of the waters (Stiff diagram, Piper diagram)
Cluster analysis
Discriminant analysis
Box and Whisker diagrams
Multivariate Exploratory Techniques

11. Effect of the snowbreak
on the chemical composition of the waters (Stiff Diagrams):
on the water level in the observation wells:
Olympos well
Styx well
Béke well
Date
Level from the top(cm)
202
281.5 83
239.5
252
85.5
251
230
n.a.
65.5
138 98 65
155 77 82
174
80.5
172.5
196
79.5
Táró spring
Styx creek
Komlós spring

12. Chemical composition of the waters
Piper diagram
Calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate
hydrochemical facies
Differences cannot be observed between the sampling locations, considering the joint effect of the parameters in the Piper diagram

13. Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
Chemical composition of the waters
Piper diagram
The TDS values in the observation wells are originally lower than in the cave’s other observed locations
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
Location
(mg/l)
Béke well
592
"Ház-sarki" spring
635
Komlós creek
622
Komlós spring
631
Medence spring
554
Olympos pit
464
Olympos well
369
Styx creek
586
Styx well
393
Táró spring
536
Béke cave
Baradla cave

14. Cluster analysis 1 (Dendogram of the Median values of the sampling locations)
Examined parameters: Ca2+,Mg2+, Na+, K+,HCO3-,NO3-, SO42-, pH (80 data)
Groups:
Group 1 Olympos well, Styx well
Group 2 Komlós creek, „Ház-sarki” spring
Group 3 Olympos pit, Styx creek, Táró spring, Medence spring
Group 4 Béke well, Komlós spring
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Baradla cave
Béke cave
Baradla cave
Béke cave

15. Discriminant analysis (Median values)
Béke well
Komlós creek
Komlós spring
„Ház-sarki” spring
Medence spring
Táró spring
Styx creek
Styx well
Olympos well
Olympos pit
100% of original grouped cases correctly classified

16. Discriminant analysis (each sampling in time)
Béke well
Komlós creek
Komlós spring
„Ház-sarki” spring
Medence spring
Táró spring
Styx creek
Styx well
Olympos well
Olympos pit
85,1% of original grouped cases correctly classified
The Discriminant analysis verified the classification

17. Box and Whisker diagrams of Groups 1-4 made from each sampling in time
Ca2+ diagram
HCO3- diagram

18. Cluster analysis 2 (Dendogram of the Median values of the sampling locations)
Archive measurement data from:
(L. Maucha) and
(K. Fehér)
Ca2+,Mg2+,pH,HCO3-,NO3-

19. Summary
As expected water content is mostly Ca2+ and HCO3- which is specific to the natural state of the karst.
Karst dissolution is the primary process that determines the chemical characteristics of caves’ creeks and springs.
There are known caves with a separate water system that have creeks and thick sediment layers.
The water system reacts to the surface weather conditions (precipitation, snow melting).
The main ingredient of the cave sediment is quartz, so dissolution is minimal due to the stone-water interaction.
The melt waters have the greatest effect on the configuration of the chemical characteristics and the water level in the observation wells.
The water level in the wells decrease slowly – vulnerability!
The water regime of the Béke cave has been changed since the 1980s
In accordance to the water tracing experiments
Outlook
More observation wells will be constructed in both caves to better understanding of chemical characteristics and movements of the water in the sediments.

20. Acknowledgements József Kovács – Eötvös Loránd University
Gábor Vid – Niphargus Cave Research Group
Gábor Salamon, Péter Gruber – Aggtelek National Park

21. Thank You for your kind attention!