Cavechat.org

MAMMOTH CAVE, Ky. - It normally takes 20 to 30 years for spills to be cleaned up naturally in an underground water system, but a group of student researchers from Tennessee State University hope apply a technique that can speed up the process.

Last month, the students visited Mammoth Cave to study karst and ways that contaminant levels in the cave's water system could be reduced.

The students invented a technique while working at Fort Campbell that they hope to apply to Mammoth Cave, environmental engineering professor Tom Byl said. The technique involves using a chemical similar to dry-cleaning solvent.

"We did that at Fort Campbell and it worked like a charm in enhancing fuel degradation," Byl said.

The 20 students who visited Mammoth Cave last month went down deep to develop an understanding of caves.

"Most had never been in a cave before. That was significant," Byl said.

Rick Toomey, director of the Mammoth Cave International Center for Science and Learning, said he was happy to see students' interest in all aspects of the cave.

"I'm really excited about the potential for projects," he said.

Already, the students plan to measure car emissions run-off from parking lots and roads around the visitor center in the national park.

"They put down a purification system for the run-off. But no one has ever tested to see if it works," Byl said. "Our hope, of course, is that it does work and clear water is dripping into the caves below."

The projects with Mammoth Cave also works toward another goal: spurring interest among minority students in earth sciences. Mike Bradley, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Nashville, said those students typically haven't pursued the field of study. He said the agency has a partnership program with Tennessee State, which is a historically black college.

"Before we actually went into the cave, we learned about the history of African-Americans, the part they played in exploring the cave and creating maps in the cave," said Tarra Beach, one of Byl's students.

This month, Beach said she hopes to inject chemicals in remote parts of the cave and watch them emerge at other points to learn about what happens to contaminants in karst terrain.

kver33 wrote:Here is a link to some more articles:

<a href="http://news.google.com/news?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tab=wn&ncl=http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/state/15487428.htm&hl=en">Students work with Mammoth Cave</a>