Duality of functioning in a karst system under mediterranean climate conditions, deduced from hydrochemical characterization

Abstract

Over a period of two hydrological years (one dry and the other rainy), physical and chemical parameters were monitored at the Cañamero spring, the main discharge point of the carbonate aquifer beneath Sierra Colorado and Sierra Merinos, in the province of Málaga, southern Spain, in order to determine its hydrogeological functioning. Analysis of the chemical data, using data processing techniques such as the distribution of electrical conductivity frequency curves, temporal evolution and principal component analysis, revealed a duality of functioning in the hydrochemical response recorded during 2007/08 (589mm precipitation) and 2008/09 (730mm precipitation). It is concluded that the precipitation, distribution and intensity of rainfall are factors determining the variability of hydrogeological functioning of karstic aquifers, with respect to climatology, in the Mediterranean region.