Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-812
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-812
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
15 Jan 2026
| 15 Jan 2026
Status: this preprint is currently under review for the journal ESSD.
The WoKaS-Iso Database: Workflow for a Global Compilation of Oxygen-18 and Deuterium Records in Karst Springs and Cave Drip Water for Enhanced Understanding of Karst Systems
Abstract. For analysing karst hydrogeological systems, observations of karst springs and cave drips are considered indispensable. In addition to hydrometric observations, knowing the oxygen and hydrogen stable isotope ratios has improved the understanding of vadose zone and aquifer dynamics, likewise supporting system characterisation and modelling. However, limited accessibility and high costs of the analysis of stable isotopes in karst aquifers have hindered progress in karst research and impeded the accurate understanding of karst processes especially when it comes to comparative or large-scale studies. In this study, we present our workflow to compile the WoKaS-Iso database, the first extensive collection of time series data for Oxygen-18 and Deuterium isotopes in karst springs and cave drip water from diverse sources, encompassing publications, theses, reports, online archives, and collaborative initiatives worldwide. The database incorporates data sourced from 236 springs and 74 caves, comprising in total 997 time series (379 time series for the springs and 618 time series for the cave drip water). These datasets provide coverage across significant karst regions globally, spanning China, the USA, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. Within datasets, 79% for springs and 68% for cave drip water exhibit resolutions finer than monthly intervals. In addition, by integrating isotopic records with ancillary environmental variables including spring discharge, cave drip rate, precipitation, and rainwater isotopes, the database offers a more comprehensive perspective on hydrological behaviours in karst aquifers, hence advancing hydrogeological characterisation and modelling. The WoKaS-Iso database not only deepens the understanding of the complex systems but also promotes sustainable water resource management as well as the potential to foster collaborative research. The database can be accessed at: https://doi.org/10.25532/OPARA-909.
How to cite. Zang, Y., Treble, P. C., Yoshimura, K., Pinza, J. G., Zhang, F., Çallı, K. Ö., Mei, X., Husic, A., Gessert, A., Stroj, A., Andreo, B., Ladouche, B., Stumpp, C., Mance, D., Zagana, E., Huang, F., Sappa, G., Kunstmann, H., Brielmann, H., Zhou, H., Wu, H., Garvelmann, J., Berglund, J., Charlier, J.-B., Lange, J., Barberá Fornell, J. A., Pu, J., Katsanou, K., Ren, K., Toran, L., Gill, L., Filippini, M., Kralik, M., Mudarra Martínez, M., Zhao, M., Luo, M., Goldscheider, N., Lambrakis, N., Vita, P. D., Xiao, Q., Yu, S., Iacurto, S., Coda, S., McCormack, T., Allocca, V., Darling, W. G., D’Alessandro, W., Guo, X., Hu, Y., Wang, Z., Kaminsky, E., Faimon, J., Lang, M., Pracný, P., and Hartmann, A.: The WoKaS-Iso Database: Workflow for a Global Compilation of Oxygen-18 and Deuterium Records in Karst Springs and Cave Drip Water for Enhanced Understanding of Karst Systems, Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-812, in review, 2026.
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The WoKaS-Iso Database: Workflow for a Global Compilation of Oxygen-18 and Deuterium Records in Karst Springs and Cave Drip Water for Enhanced Understanding of Karst Systems Yining Zang https://doi.org/10.25532/OPARA-909
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Yining Zang
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Groundwater Management, Technical University of Dresden, Dresden, 01069, Germany
Pauline C. Treble
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
ANSTO, New Illawarra Road, Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Sydney NSW, 2052, Australia
Kei Yoshimura
Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan
Japan Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan
Jayson Gabriel Pinza
ECOSPHERE Research Group, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1C, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
Division of Soil and Water Management, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Fengbo Zhang
Ningbo River Management Center, Ningbo Water Resources Bureau, Ningbo 315000, China
Kübra Özdemir Çallı
Institute of Groundwater Management, Technical University of Dresden, Dresden, 01069, Germany
Xiaojun Mei
Merchant Marine College, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai 201306, China
Admin Husic
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg 24061, USA
Alena Gessert
Institute of Geography, Faculty of Sciences, University of P.J. Šafárik, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia
Andrej Stroj
Croatian Geological Survey, Sachsova 2, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Bartolomé Andreo
Department of Geology and Centre of Hydrogeology at the University of Malaga, 29071, Malaga, Spain
Bernard Ladouche
BRGM, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
G-EAU, Univ Montpellier, AgroParisTech, BRGM, CIRAD, INRAE, Institut Agro, IRD, Montpellier, France
Christine Stumpp
Institute of Soil Physics and Rural Water Management, Department of Landscape, Water and Infrastructure, BOKU University, Vienna, Austria
Diana Mance
Faculty of Physics, University of Rijeka, 51000, Rijeka, Croatia
Eleni Zagana
Laboratory of Hydrogeology, Department of Geology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Patras, GR-26504 Patras, Greece
Fen Huang
Key Laboratory of Karst Dynamics, MNR and GZAR, Institute of Karst Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Guilin, 541004, China
Giuseppe Sappa
Department of Civil, Constructional and Environmental Engineering (DICEA), Sapienza University of Rome, 00184 Rome, Italy
Harald Kunstmann
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Campus Alpin, D-82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Institute of Geography, University of Augsburg, D-86135 Augsburg, Germany
Heike Brielmann
Environment Agency Austria, Groundwater Unit, Spittelauer Laende 5, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Hong Zhou
School of Environmental Studies& Institute of Geological Survey, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, China
Huaying Wu
Key Laboratory of Karst Dynamics, MNR and GZAR, Institute of Karst Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Guilin, 541004, China
Jakob Garvelmann
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Campus Alpin, D-82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Boden & grundwasser Allgäu GmbH, D-87527 Sonthofen, Germany
James Berglund
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin – Platteville, Platteville, Wisconsin, USA
Jean-Baptiste Charlier
BRGM, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France
G-EAU, Univ Montpellier, AgroParisTech, BRGM, CIRAD, INRAE, Institut Agro, IRD, Montpellier, France
Jens Lange
Hydrology, University of Freiburg, 79098 Freiburg, Germany
Juan Antonio Barberá Fornell
Department of Geology and Centre of Hydrogeology at the University of Malaga, 29071, Malaga, Spain
Junbing Pu
Chongqing Key Laboratory of Carbon Cycle and Carbon Regulation of Mountain Ecosystem, School of Geography and Tourism, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, 401331, China
Konstantina Katsanou
Department of Water Resources and Ecosystems, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, Netherlands
Kun Ren
Key Laboratory of Karst Dynamics, MNR and GZAR, Institute of Karst Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Guilin, 541004, China
Laura Toran
Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Laurence Gill
Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Maria Filippini
Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences—BiGeA, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Selmi 3, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Martin Kralik
Department of Environmental Geosciences, Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Matías Mudarra Martínez
Department of Geology and Centre of Hydrogeology at the University of Malaga, 29071, Malaga, Spain
Min Zhao
State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry (SKLEG), Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Guiyang, China
Mingming Luo
School of Environmental Studies& Institute of Geological Survey, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, China
Nico Goldscheider
Institute of Applied Geosciences, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Nikolaos Lambrakis
Laboratory of Hydrogeology, Department of Geology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Patras, GR-26504 Patras, Greece
Pantaleone De Vita
Department of Earth, Environmental and Resources Sciences (DiSTAR), University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
Qiong Xiao
Key Laboratory of Karst Dynamics, MNR and GZAR, Institute of Karst Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Guilin, 541004, China
Shi Yu
Key Laboratory of Karst Dynamics, MNR and GZAR, Institute of Karst Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Guilin, 541004, China
Silvia Iacurto
Department of Civil, Constructional and Environmental Engineering (DICEA), Sapienza University of Rome, 00184 Rome, Italy
Silvio Coda
Department of Earth, Environmental and Resources Sciences (DiSTAR), University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
Ted McCormack
Geological Survey Ireland, Booterstown Avenue, Booterstown, Blackrock, Ireland
Vincenzo Allocca
Department of Earth, Environmental and Resources Sciences (DiSTAR), University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
W. George Darling
British Geological Survey, Wallingford OX10 8BB, United Kingdom
Walter D’Alessandro
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia – Sezione di Palermo, Via La Malfa 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy
Xulei Guo
School of Environmental Studies& Institute of Geological Survey, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, China
Yundi Hu
School of Geography and Environmental Science, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, People’s Republic of China
Zhijun Wang
Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai 519087, China
Eva Kaminsky
Karst and Cave Group, Geological Paleontological Department, Natural History Museum, Vienna, Austria
Institute of Soil Physics and Rural Water Management, Department of Landscape, Water and Infrastructure, BOKU University, Vienna, Austria
Jiří Faimon
Department of Geological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
Czech Geological Survey, Brno Branch, Brno, Czech Republic
Marek Lang
Department of Geological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
Pavel Pracný
Department of Geological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
Andreas Hartmann
Institute of Groundwater Management, Technical University of Dresden, Dresden, 01069, Germany
Short summary
We developed the first global database of water from karst springs and cave drips that records different forms of oxygen and hydrogen, which naturally trace how rainwater moves through rocks. By gathering and checking thousands of measurements from around the globe and linking them with flow and rainfall data, the database provides a comprehensive view of water movement, allows scientists to compare regions, understand groundwater processes, and support sustainable water management worldwide.
We developed the first global database of water from karst springs and cave drips that records...
Altmetrics
Overall opinions
The manuscript aims to showcase the WoKaS-Iso database. It consists of very useful isotope measurement dataset for various applications in karst hydro(geo)logy and make the data easily accessible to the whole scientific community. The isotope measurements come with precipitation MSWEP, temperature ERA5 and evapotranspiration GLEAM, giving a ready to use dataset with independent estimations of P, T and ET.
The manuscript is well written and pleasant to read. The figures are well designed and clear. The data are well described and the author give clear recommendation on the use of the data by affecting various flags depending on the data quality. This is really useful for the reader and future user of the dataset.
I would recommend this manuscript for publication in ESSD after addressing some minor concerns given as specific comments below. This initiative is of clear interest for the scientific community and will benefit from additional contributions in the future.
Specific comments
Line 301: It could be nice to have one figure with some example of time series, maybe showing some different behavior across north America, Europe and Asia (since these are regions with the more data).
By looking at some time series, I have the impression that Input-FR-S-0016@Lison and Input-FR-S-0017@Loue are the same data. Maybe need to cross checked