Modeling flow in phreatic and epiphreatic Karst conduits in the Hölloch Cave (Muotatal, Switzerland)

The Hölloch cave is a site where the hydrodynamic behavior of a karst conduit network can be observed with a high degree of precision. Observed heads, discharge rates, conduit sizes, and conduit lengths have been compiled into a simple hydrodynamic model in order to check their consistency. It was possible to calibrate and satisfactorily fit the observed data. Model results show the following: (1) Flow models which are able to simulate turbulent flow in variably saturated conduit networks can adequately model conduit flow–dominated karst systems. (2) Karst systems may be strongly nonlinear, especially because of the presence of epiphreatic conduits. (3) Under certain circumstances, storage in the epiphreatic conduits and in the fissured limestone matrix can be neglected. (4) The typical effective hydraulic conductivity of karst conduits ranges between 1 and 10 m s−1, and the Louis formula is adequate to calculate head losses in those conduits. (5) Indirect measurements of flow velocity using scallop size indicate values of ∼30–40% of the maximal annual discharge, and velocity derived from pebble size indicates values of ∼150% of the maximal annual discharge