Rappeling down into Devils Hole 2

Information about ancient climates can be derived in a number of ways. For example, scientists at the University of Innsbruck measure the ratio of oxygen’s heavy to light isotopes within individual calcite layers, which provide clues to past temperature and rainfall conditions. Scientists can precisely date the climate record up to hundreds of thousands of years back in time using uranium-thorium techniques. This dating technique has also been used in the current project.

Through a small entrance the scientists have to rappel 20 meters into the cave.

Photo: Robbie Shone

It wasn’t dripstones, however, that led Yuri Dublyansky and his colleagues Gina Moseley, Kathleen Wendt and Christoph Spötl from the Quaternary Research Group of the Institute of Geology to Death Valley at the beginning of February 2017. In fact, dripstones do not exist in Devils Hole; instead an even more fascinating source of information can be found there. “Dripstones have a downside: When the climate is drier they may stop growing and the climate record becomes incomplete. The situation in Devils Hole is very different though,” says Dublyansky.

Devils Hole is located in Death Valley National Park, Nevada, in the middle of the Amargosa desert. The subaqueous cavern provides information on the extensive subterranean water reservoir it intersects.

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Smooth walls

The walls of Devils Hole are coated from top to bottom with a calcite layer that has a thickness of more than one meter at some places. “Here it is not dripping water that causes the build-up of mineral deposits but rather the groundwater moving slowly through the cavern,” says Dublyansky. “The groundwater in this desert region is slightly supersaturated with calcite, which is slowly depositing in layers on the cavern walls.” The exciting fact: This process has been happening for over more than a million years without any interruptions. “This is why Devils Hole is a hidden gem for climatologists: Finding a nearly complete documentation of the chemical composition of groundwater is unique worldwide,” says the geologist. In 2014 this project received a grant from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) – Austria’s central funding organization - and since then has been headed by Christoph Spötl.

Devils Hole is a hidden gem for climatologists. Yuri Dublyansky