Students from the University of New South Wales have been conducting tests on groundwater, methane and resistivity at the Wellington Caves this week using equipment worth more than half a million dollars.
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"A lot of the equipment we have is brand new, so a few years ago we couldn't have made these measurements and have the results in real time," Associate Professor Bryce Kelly said.
"It is this sort of science that keeps the students engaged."
He said that while they weren't necessarily making the biggest of discoveries, they were refining what they already knew about the movement of carbon, methane and hydrogen through the landscape.
As methane is a greenhouse gas, the measurements would help students better understand its effect on global warming.
"We are looking at methane and trying to understand how much comes from sinks and sources.
"Cattle would be a source while a sink would be soil or karst.
"We suspect we have underestimated how big soils are as sinks."
Professor Andy Baker said the Wellington Caves were a vital location for the study of karst and the excursion proved popular for a number of students with interests in geology, engineering and environmental science.
"It is really important for the students.
"If we were to write a textbook, by the time it was published it would be out of date, but here they are studying science based on the latest findings."
