Ice cave

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about caves that contain ice. For caves formed in ice, see glacier cave.
Dachstein-Rieseneishöhle (de) in Austria

An ice cave is any type of natural

lava tubes or limestone caves) that contains significant amounts of perennial (year-round) ice. At least a portion of the cave must have a temperature below 0 °C (32 °F) all year round, and water
must have traveled into the cave’s cold zone.

Terminology

This type of cave was first[

speleologists, ice cave is the proper English term.[2]

A cavity formed within ice (as in a glacier) is properly called a glacier cave.[3]

Types

Ice caves occur as static ice caves, such as Peña Castil Ice Cave,

better source needed
]

Temperature mechanisms

In most of the world,

temperate climates, due to mechanisms that result in cave temperatures being colder than average surface temperatures where they formed.[7]

Ice plates

Cold traps: Certain cave configurations allow seasonal

air from the surface in winter, but not warm air in summer. A typical example is an underground chamber located below a single entrance. In winter, cold dense air settles into the cave, displacing any warmer air which rises and exits the cave. In summer, the cold cave air remains in place as the relatively warm surface air is lighter and cannot enter. The cave will only exchange air when the surface air is cooler than the cave air. Some cold traps may ensnare surface snow and shade it from the summer sun’s rays, which may further contribute to the colder cave temperature.[7]

Permafrost: Even temperate environments can include pockets of bedrock that are below freezing year round, a condition called permafrost. For example, winter wind and an absence of snow cover may allow freezing deep enough to be protected from summer thaw, particularly in light-colored rock that does not readily absorb heat. Although the portion of a cave within this permafrost zone will be below freezing, permafrost generally does not allow water percolation, so ice formations are often limited to crystals from vapor, and deeper cave passages may be arid and completely ice-free. Ice caves in permafrost need not be cold-traps (although some are), provided they do not draught significantly in summer.

Evaporative cooling: In winter, dry surface air entering a moisture-saturated cave may have an additional cooling effect due to the

evaporative cooling
than condensative warming.

Types of ice

Needle ice extrusions

Different freezing mechanisms result in visually and structurally distinct types of perennial cave ice.

Ponded water: Surface water that collects and ponds in a cave before freezing will form a clear ice mass, and can be tens of metres thick and of great age. Large ice masses are

sublimation
may reveal ancient accumulation bands within the ice.

Accumulated snow: Compressed under the weight of ongoing accumulations, snow sliding or falling into a cave entrance may eventually form ice that is coarsely crystalline, akin to glacier ice. True underground glaciers are rare.

Ice formations: Water that freezes before ponding may form icicles, ice-stalagmites, ice columns or frozen waterfalls.[7]

Airborne moisture (water vapor): Freezing vapor can form

frost feathers and two-dimensional ice plates
on the cave walls and ceiling.

Needle ice: Infiltrating water that freezes within the bedrock can sometimes be forced into the cave passage.

Intrusions: The weight of a surface glacier perched atop a cave entrance can force glacial ice a short distance into the cave. The only known examples of this phenomenon are the several 'ice plugs' at the back of Castleguard Cave in Alberta.

Examples

Further reading

References

  1. ^ Balch, E.S. (1900). Glacieres or Freezing Caverns.
  2. ^ Ford, Derek C.; Williams, P.W. (1989). Karst Geomorphology and Hydrology.
  3. ^ "A Lexicon of Cave and Karst Terminology with Special Reference to Environmental Karst Hydrology" (PDF). Karst Waters Institute. 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-12-17.
  4. ^ Berenguer-Sempere, Fernando; Gómez-Lende, Manuel; Serrano, Enrique; Juan de Sanjosé-Blasco, José (2014). "Orthothermographies and 3D modeling as potential tools in ice caves studies: the Peña Castil Ice Cave (Picos de Europa, Northern Spain)" (PDF). International Journal of Speleology. 43 (1): pp.=35–43.
  5. ^ Anonymous Eisriesenwelt: Scientific Background Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine eisriesenwelt.at, undated, 7pp, retrieved January 2016.
  6. ISBN 978-1-107-00392-7
    .
  7. ^ a b c Barck, C. (December 1913). "Caves". Mazama. 4 (2). Portland, OR: Mazamas: 61–69. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  8. ^ Features of the Bandera Crater flow, Including Aa Lava & Ice CavesIce Cave at Bandera Volcano Archived 2015-09-08 at the Wayback Machine Virtual Field Trip to the basalts of the Zuni-Bandera Malpais, New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology, 2000, retrieved 17 January 2016.
  9. ^ Bortig Pit Cave – The Underground Ice World, Travel Guide Romania website, June 2014, retrieved 17 January 2016.
  10. ^ Dobšiná Ice Cave Slovak Caves Administration, undated, retrieved 17 January 2016.
  11. ^ Fuhrmann, Kelly (August 2007). "Monitoring the disappearance of a perennial ice deposit in Merrill Cave" (PDF). Journal of Cave and Karst Studies. 69 (2): 256–265. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  12. ^ Scarisoara Ice Cave – the biggest underground glacier in Romania, Travel Guide Romania website, December 24, 2014, retrieved 17 January 2016.

External links

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