Slovenian researchers with new insights into climate change effects on water

The project brought together researchers of the ZRC SAZU Geography Institute, the University of Ljubljana and the University of Bari. They published their findings in the Earth Surface Processes and Landforms geomorphology journal.

Using electrical resistivity tomography, which is normally used in medicine, the researchers detected and mapped solution pipes under the surface of cliffs in the region of Apulia, Italy.

The solution pipes are vertical tunnels that used to serve as natural drains for rainwater. "Imagine a landscape that is like Swiss cheese only instead of cheese there is sandy and poorly cemented limestone rock," researcher Matej Lipar from the ZRC SAZU Geography Institute says.

Rainwater seeped through the limestone for thousands of years, forming pipes, where the water could run into the ground quickly. Because of climate change the edges of the pipes hardened and now water seeps mostly around them, instead of through them, Lipar says.

Most of these pipes would never be found without geophysical measurements, the lead study author Mateja Ferk says. She says their discovery was significant because it opened the way to a previously unknown underground world and it touched on a new chapter in Earth's history.

The fossilised solution pipes are like archives of climate change, the researchers said. Some of the pipes are now rising to the surface as their less firm surroundings erode faster. This is a global process, the researchers said, adding that a similar phenomenon was detected in Australia and on Mauritius.

"In addition to the structures helping us understand the development of the landscape, by studying them we will be able to perfect the management of groundwater," the researchers say.