Sources and Transport of Inorganic Carbon in the Unsaturated Zone of Karst

This book combines field, laboratory and modelling methods to identify, characterize and quantify sources and fluxes within and between the different compartments: water, rock and air. Inorganic carbon plays an important role in shaping karst features. In the unsaturated zone, the percolating water consumes soil-derived carbon dioxide while dissolving carbonate bedrock and then releases it again while degassing and precipitating calcite in caves. A portion of the released CO2 is returned to the atmosphere through the natural ventilation of caves. This book is an important reference source for all those interested in the global carbon budget, karst geochemistry, cave climate and paleoclimate studies using cave speleothem as proxies.