A Quantitative Dye Trace in the Bat River System

Abstract

While in recent years a significant amount of work has been done to delineate the karst spring sheds of southeastern Minnesota. There has been little work done to document the characteristics of the spring sheds such as the resonance time of water with in the system. Bat River Cave and spring were the focal point for this trace, the spring being the sampling location. Four dyes were released, one in a drilled access shaft and three others into nearby sinkholes. All four dyes were detected in Bat River Spring within twenty-four hours of there releases. The velocity of the system was found to be 651 ft/hr relative to cave passage and 258 ft/hr compared to the surface distance. This goes to highlight the Galena group's vulnerabilities and the difficulty of contamination containment.