Inception Horizon: A Creative Exploration of Karst Groundwater

Abstract

The journey of water and how it interacts with the geological environments through which it flows is a fundamental aspect of hydrogeology. “Inception Horizon” is a mesmerizing short film that takes the viewer on this journey through the unique Burren karst system in the West of Ireland. The concept for the film was devised by Professor Laurence Gill (Trinity College Dublin) who carries out research into karst hydrogeology. He supplied the scientific insights and guidance along the journey that ended up with this film. The film’s hauntingly beautiful music was composed by Norah Constance Walsh, the artistic director of the Dublin-based Mellow Tonics choir who perform the choral work in the film. The choral piece was first performed by Mellow Tonics during a public dissemination event in Trinity College Dublin (March 7, 2020) which took the audience on a journey deep underground, following the flow of water through song, sculpture, visual projections, and spoken word. The choir also traveled to Slovenia in September 2022 to perform the piece at Županova jama (cave) in collaboration with the Slovenian Karst Research Institute ZRC SAZU. The film, produced by Science Foundation Ireland’s iCRAG (Irish Centre for Research into Applied Geosciences), is under 10-min long and was recently awarded third place in the People’s Choice Award at the UNESCO Earth Futures Film Festival 2022. It can be accessed on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=2nd_AiytQvA). The concept of the inception horizon plays a significant role in the film. This is a geological horizon (such as a bedding plane, fault, fracture, or joint) which triggers the initiation of cave formation by the percolation of water. Over time, water slowly dissolves the limestone formations and eventually carves out vast subterranean