Chenpeng Hu

Epikarst is connected with a “binary” geological structure, and the hydrogeochemical processes are complex. Nutrients play an important role in the restoration of the surface ecosystem in the desertification area, which is prone to loss and leakage, and the transport and transformation of nitrogen is crucial to the growth and development of plants in the ecosystem and the safety of drinking water for the residents. In this study, we reviewed nitrogen research in the past 20 years in the “Web of Science (WOS)” and “China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)”, and we reviewed nitrogen research in the following areas. From the results of the systematic review, (1) We found that nitrogen-related research literature has been growing over time, and the growth has been faster in the past five years, mainly in the fields of agriculture, public health, and environmental science; (2) In karst water systems, researchers are mostly concerned with the sources of nitrate, distribution characteristics, and pollution of karst water, and the dual isotope techniques of δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O are used to identify these; (3) In karst water systems, surface water bodies and underground rivers are the main objects of study, relatively few studies have been conducted on karst springs, and NO₃⁻-N, NO₂⁻-N, and NH₄⁺-N are the main forms of nitrogen presence. The study of nitrogen in karst water systems ignores the unique subsurface leakage problem of karst areas, and the study of the relationship between nitrogen and nutrient leakage in karst water systems should be strengthened for karst desertification management and ecological restoration. This review may provide some insights for researchers working in related fields.

In karst areas, the characteristics of water chemistry and carbon and nitrogen are of great significance to basic research. The contents of Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, K⁺, Na⁺, HCO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻, NO₃⁻, Cl⁻, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and total nitrogen (TN) in water samples from 18 rivers and 14 springs in the Huangzhouhe River Basin were determined. The results showed that the water chemistry type in the Huangzhouhe River Basin is HCO₃-Ca-Mg. The chemical composition is mainly affected by dolomite weathering and also by ion exchange and other human activities. The river and spring DIC remain at the same level in the upper and middle reaches and decrease in the lower reaches. The NO₃-N and TN of river water and TN of spring water increase in the middle reaches, while NO₃-N of spring water decreases in the lower reaches. The DOC in the basin increases with the increase of SO₄²⁻ and Cl⁻, mainly due to the human influence of agricultural and domestic sewage. In the basin, the NO₃-N and TN in spring water are larger, and the DOC in river water is larger, mainly because there are more phytoplankton and human activities in the river water. The carbon and nitrogen in the Huangzhouhe River Basin are mainly HCO₃⁻ and NO₃⁻ ions. The evaluation of pH, Cl⁻, NO₃-N, SO₄²⁻, and TDS shows that the water quality is good and the ecological environment is good.

Groups in dissolved organic matter (DOM) emit fluorescence information at characteristic wavelengths when irradiated by excitation waves, which can reveal the geochemical behavior of dissolved organic matter in the environment and its sources, but there are few relevant studies in cave groundwater systems. In order to investigate the relationship between drip hydrochemistry characteristics and DOM in cave systems after subsurface leakage, in this study, from the perspective of dissolved organic matter in the karst cave water system, the groundwater in the dry season of Daxiao Cave was selected as the research object. Five drip points and one water pool (DX-1, DX-2, DX-3, DX-4, DX-5, and DX-C) in Daxiao Cave were monitored and consecutively sampled for four months. The parallel factor analysis method (PARAFAC), three-dimensional (3D) fluorescence parameters, and excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy (EEM), combined with the hydrochemistry characteristics of the drip water and correlation analysis, were used to analyze the 3D fluorescence spectral characteristics of the DOM of the drip water of Daxiao Cave and their influencing factors. The results show that (1) the hydrochemistry type of the drip water in Daxiao Cave was within the Ca–Mg–HCO₃ type, and Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, and HCO₃⁻ were the dominant ions in Daxiao Cave; (2) the fluorescence fractions of drip water in dry season caves were dominated by C1 (humus-like), C2 (tryptophan-like), and C3 (tyrosine-like), and the fluorescence fractions of drip water DOM were controlled by protein fluorophores; (3) the DOM in the drip water of Daxiao Cave in the dry season was controlled in part by subsurface leakage and was largely the result of microbial degradation; and (4) the DOM of the drip water may be influenced by the chemical composition of the water, but the exact process is not clear.