Filipčíková N., Milovský R., Lánczos T. & Csibri T., 2018: Characterising CO2 carbon isotopic composition in a cave atmosphere at Havranická Cave, Malé Karpaty Mts.: A case study. Acta Geologica Slovaca, 10, 1, 65–71.


Characterising CO2 carbon isotopic composition in a cave atmosphere at Havranická Cave, Malé Karpaty Mts.: A case study

Petronela Filipčíková1, Rastislav Milovský2, Tomáš Lánczos1 & Tamás Csibri3

1Department of Geochemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia; nela.filipcikova@gmail.com, tlanczos@gmail.com
2Earth Science Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Ďumbierska 1, 974 01, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia; milovsky@savbb.sk
3Department of Geology and Palaeontology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia; tamas.csibri@gmail.com

Abstract

This study provides the results of an investigation of the carbon isotopic composition in a CO2 cave atmosphere at Havranická Cave, Malé Karpaty Mts., Western Carpathians. The measured concentrations and δ13C values range between near-atmospheric (~ 612 ppmV and –7.38 ‰ PDB) values and depleted (~1039 ppmV and –13.5 ‰) values suggesting mixing of two contrasting CO2 sources. Other measured characteristics such as temperature, humidity and CO2 concentrations show trends related to depth, where temperature and humidity remain constant and the CO2 content increases with depth. We conclude that the carbon isotopic composition of cave air is a result of mixing of atmospheric and soil-derived CO2, degassed from dripwater. The contribution of carbon from limestone bedrock is possible, however, it cannot be confirmed with the current dataset.


Key words: Malé Karpaty Mts., Havranická cave, cave atmosphere, carbon dioxide, stable isotope


Manuscript received: 2017-11-10

Revised version accepted: 2018-05-09


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