The importance of air temperature as a key parameter to identify climatic processes inside Carlsbad Cavern, New Mexico, USA
- The meteorological and climatic conditions in Carlsbad Cavern are very complex. The huge rooms and the large entrance area, in combination with smaller connection tunnels and remote chambers, cause a complexity of different microclimates side by side. As in the case of most others, Carlsbad Cavern is not easy to classify as a barometric or a convective cave system. The objective of this paper is to explain the climate at different positions inside Carlsbad Cavern by evaluating a series of measurements taken during the year 2013. The air temperature will be used as a key parameter for the analysis. We will identify the thermal- or convection-driven influences, as well as some clear barometric effects and underline the importance of air temperature for cave climate research. We will also investigate the influence of the tourist use of the cave, which means the visitors themselves, as well as the elevators, the cafeteria, and the electrical system and lights. Because the analyzed time period includes the time of the government shutdown in 2013, the artificial effects can be identified very easily.
| Author: | Michael Killing-HeinzeGND, Andreas PflitschORCiDGND, Wilhelm FurianGND, Stan AllisonGND |
|---|---|
| URN: | urn:nbn:de:hbz:294-59669 |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.4311/2014IC0119 |
| Parent Title (German): | Journal of cave and karst studies |
| Document Type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Date of Publication (online): | 2018/07/18 |
| Date of first Publication: | 2017/12/01 |
| Publishing Institution: | Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsbibliothek |
| Tag: | Open Access Fonds |
| Volume: | 79 |
| Issue: | 3 |
| First Page: | 153 |
| Last Page: | 167 |
| Note: | Article Processing Charge funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the Open Access Publication Fund of Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Used with permission of the National Speleological Society www.caves.org. |
| Institutes/Facilities: | Geographisches Institut |
| Dewey Decimal Classification: | Geschichte und Geografie / Geografie, Reisen |
| open_access (DINI-Set): | open_access |
| faculties: | Fakultät für Geowissenschaften |
| Licence (German): |  Keine Creative Commons Lizenz - es gelten die Rechteeinräumung und das deutsche Urheberrecht |
