Mitigating flood risk and environmental change in show caves: Key challenges in the management of the Las Güixas cave (Pyrenees, Spain)

A successful management of a show cave requires knowledge of cave dynamics and the main risk factors. Show caves close to the water table are prone to sporadic flooding, which can threaten visitor safety and result in severe economic losses. Las Güixas cave, located in the Collarada Massif (Pyrenees...

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Autores: Giménez, Reyes, Moreno Caballud, Ana, Luetscher, Marc, Ezquerro, Lope, Delgado Huertas, Antonio, Benito, Gerardo, Bartolomé, Miguel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/372822
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/372822
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Cave climatology
Cave monitoring
Cave ventilation
CO2 sources
Flood hydrographs
Flooding cave
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spelling Mitigating flood risk and environmental change in show caves: Key challenges in the management of the Las Güixas cave (Pyrenees, Spain)Giménez, ReyesMoreno Caballud, AnaLuetscher, MarcEzquerro, LopeDelgado Huertas, AntonioBenito, GerardoBartolomé, MiguelCave climatologyCave monitoringCave ventilationCO2 sourcesFlood hydrographsFlooding caveA successful management of a show cave requires knowledge of cave dynamics and the main risk factors. Show caves close to the water table are prone to sporadic flooding, which can threaten visitor safety and result in severe economic losses. Las Güixas cave, located in the Collarada Massif (Pyrenees - Spain), is representative of a show cave close to the water table that is exposed to energetic flash floods. We conducted a five-year comprehensive cave monitoring study including air temperature, relative humidity, CO concentration and water level. Additionally, we measured outside temperature and precipitation. Air temperature variations and ventilation dynamics occurring in most of the cave are controlled by the outside temperature due to entrances at different elevations, except in a non-ventilated area showing more stable hygrothermal characteristics and higher summer values of CO concentration. The study also identifies distinct CO sources related to the degassing of water and visitors’ breathing. Monitoring data show that the rapid degassing of cave water during flooding may increase subsurface CO concentrations to levels well above the exposure limits. However, the strong ventilation observed inside the cave rapidly removes CO peaks produced by flooding and limits the anthropic CO rise to ∼100 ppm. Hydrograph analysis revealed a response time of 8–12 h in the cave water levels to external rainfall/snowmelt events. Based on these results, a flood alarm system supports sustainable show cave management and the number of visitors is optimized according to the environmental conditions of the cave. This monitoring study has greatly contributed to our knowledge of cave dynamics, which can serve to improve flood risk management and increase the profitability of the show cave. Nonetheless, extreme floods remain a significant concern for potential economic losses in the future, considering current climate change scenarios. Hydrological studies together with a long-term monitoring will allow evaluating the impact of future changes in climate and environmental parameters.This work was supported by an economic grant provided by the Ayuntamiento de Villanúa, the PYCACHU project (PID2019-106050RB-I00) funded by the Spanish Government and the MODKARST project (No. 101107943) funded by the European Commision.Peer reviewedElsevier BVMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)European CommissionAgencia Estatal de Investigación (España)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]2024202420242024info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501Publisher's versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://hdl.handle.net/10261/372822reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)Inglés#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE##PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/PID2019-106050RB-I00info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/HE/101107943http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122285Síinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/3728222026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Mitigating flood risk and environmental change in show caves: Key challenges in the management of the Las Güixas cave (Pyrenees, Spain)
title Mitigating flood risk and environmental change in show caves: Key challenges in the management of the Las Güixas cave (Pyrenees, Spain)
spellingShingle Mitigating flood risk and environmental change in show caves: Key challenges in the management of the Las Güixas cave (Pyrenees, Spain)
Giménez, Reyes
Cave climatology
Cave monitoring
Cave ventilation
CO2 sources
Flood hydrographs
Flooding cave
title_short Mitigating flood risk and environmental change in show caves: Key challenges in the management of the Las Güixas cave (Pyrenees, Spain)
title_full Mitigating flood risk and environmental change in show caves: Key challenges in the management of the Las Güixas cave (Pyrenees, Spain)
title_fullStr Mitigating flood risk and environmental change in show caves: Key challenges in the management of the Las Güixas cave (Pyrenees, Spain)
title_full_unstemmed Mitigating flood risk and environmental change in show caves: Key challenges in the management of the Las Güixas cave (Pyrenees, Spain)
title_sort Mitigating flood risk and environmental change in show caves: Key challenges in the management of the Las Güixas cave (Pyrenees, Spain)
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Giménez, Reyes
Moreno Caballud, Ana
Luetscher, Marc
Ezquerro, Lope
Delgado Huertas, Antonio
Benito, Gerardo
Bartolomé, Miguel
author Giménez, Reyes
author_facet Giménez, Reyes
Moreno Caballud, Ana
Luetscher, Marc
Ezquerro, Lope
Delgado Huertas, Antonio
Benito, Gerardo
Bartolomé, Miguel
author_role author
author2 Moreno Caballud, Ana
Luetscher, Marc
Ezquerro, Lope
Delgado Huertas, Antonio
Benito, Gerardo
Bartolomé, Miguel
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
European Commission
Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [https://ror.org/02gfc7t72]
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Cave climatology
Cave monitoring
Cave ventilation
CO2 sources
Flood hydrographs
Flooding cave
topic Cave climatology
Cave monitoring
Cave ventilation
CO2 sources
Flood hydrographs
Flooding cave
description A successful management of a show cave requires knowledge of cave dynamics and the main risk factors. Show caves close to the water table are prone to sporadic flooding, which can threaten visitor safety and result in severe economic losses. Las Güixas cave, located in the Collarada Massif (Pyrenees - Spain), is representative of a show cave close to the water table that is exposed to energetic flash floods. We conducted a five-year comprehensive cave monitoring study including air temperature, relative humidity, CO concentration and water level. Additionally, we measured outside temperature and precipitation. Air temperature variations and ventilation dynamics occurring in most of the cave are controlled by the outside temperature due to entrances at different elevations, except in a non-ventilated area showing more stable hygrothermal characteristics and higher summer values of CO concentration. The study also identifies distinct CO sources related to the degassing of water and visitors’ breathing. Monitoring data show that the rapid degassing of cave water during flooding may increase subsurface CO concentrations to levels well above the exposure limits. However, the strong ventilation observed inside the cave rapidly removes CO peaks produced by flooding and limits the anthropic CO rise to ∼100 ppm. Hydrograph analysis revealed a response time of 8–12 h in the cave water levels to external rainfall/snowmelt events. Based on these results, a flood alarm system supports sustainable show cave management and the number of visitors is optimized according to the environmental conditions of the cave. This monitoring study has greatly contributed to our knowledge of cave dynamics, which can serve to improve flood risk management and increase the profitability of the show cave. Nonetheless, extreme floods remain a significant concern for potential economic losses in the future, considering current climate change scenarios. Hydrological studies together with a long-term monitoring will allow evaluating the impact of future changes in climate and environmental parameters.
publishDate 2024
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2024
2024
2024
2024
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
Publisher's version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10261/372822
url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/372822
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv #PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#
#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/PID2019-106050RB-I00
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/HE/101107943
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122285
Sí
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier BV
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier BV
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
reponame_str DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
collection DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
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repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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