Seasonal variations of 14C and δ13C for cave drip waters in Ryugashi Cave, Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan

Speleothem 14C has recently emerged as a potentially powerful proxy for hydrology changes in comparison with atmospheric 14C calibration curve, rather than as a direct dating tool, apart from a time marker using bomb peak of 14C. Some possible causes for the relationship between speleothem 14C content (or dead carbon fraction: DCF) and karst hydrology have been proposed, such as changes in temperature, precipitation, drip water flow dynamics, cave air ventilation, soil air pCO2. In this study, we investigated seasonal variation in 14C and δ13C of drip water in Ryugashi Cave, Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, to examine the causes of the 14C and δ13C variations in a speleothem. The results show that different 14C concentrations and δ13C values of drip water from the Ryugashi Cave, were exhibited at different sites of the Caves No. 1, No. 3, and No. 4, which have different temperature, air pCO2, and flow paths. Further, the 14C and δ13C of drip waters showed seasonal variations at all sites, which were lower in fall and winter, and higher in spring and summer, though the extent of the variations was different among the sites. The 14C in drip waters tended to be correlated with the drip rates: 14C tended to be higher in drip waters with higher drip rates, and also correlated with rainfall amount around the Ryugashi Cave, especially for the drip waters in Cave No. 3, which are considered to have simpler flow paths. The increase in rainfall amount could bring the increase in drip rate of drip water, and then the decrease in interaction between solution and karst, resulting in 14C increase (DCF decrease) in drip water. Accordingly, the reconstruction of precipitation could be performed using 14C variation in a speleothem formed by drip water with simple flow dynamics.