Westcave has a unique cave for studying water flow and climate change in our region. With its small size, above-ground location, and its many openings to the outside, this drives the air in the cave to be well-circulated and exchange air with the outside. This phenomenon is also referred to as the cave being ‘well-ventilated’. As a result, the internal temperature of our cave is very similar to the ambient temperature outside of the cave. In contrast, the temperature in most Texas caves is a relatively constant 21oC year-round, regardless of the outside air temperature. Since temperature affects the chemical composition of the cave’s formations (“stalagmites”), historical and current temperature information can be gleaned from studying stalagmites at caves that are structured like Westcave.

Professor Jay Banner and his research collaborators – students Peter E. Carlson, Alex Janelle, Richard Casteel, Barbara Wortham, Josiah Sanada, Will Eagle, Vivian Yale, and Dr. Weimin Feng, Dr. Dan Breecker, and Dr. Jose Abella – in the Jackson School of Geosciences and the Environmental Science Institute at the University of Texas have been conducting research at Westcave for a number of years. Their research here provides a proving ground for the prospect for such shallow and well-ventilated caves to record changes in temperature, water flow, and the movement of carbon in organic matter from the surface through the limestone and into the cave. In addition, Prof. Banner’s research group in collaboration with Professor Bryan Black (Laboratory for Tree Ring Research at the University of Arizona) are analyzing tree rings from bald cypress trees from Westcave, Mirasol Springs, and other central Texas locations to reconstruct past droughts and help scientists make better predictions about future droughts.

To learn more, please visit https://www.jsg.utexas.edu/banner/