Dachstein Rieseneishöhle Parzifaldom 20210918

An ice cave is any type of natural

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

(most commonly lava tubes or

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

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 Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

must have traveled into the cave’s cold zone.

Terminology

This type of cave was first formally described by Englishman Edwin Swift Balch in 1900, who suggested the French term ''glacieres'' should be used for them, even though the term ''ice cave'' was then, as now, commonly used to refer to caves simply containing year-round ice. Among speleologists, ''ice cave'' is the proper English term. A cavity formed ''within'' ice (as in a glacier) is properly called a glacier cave.

Types

Ice caves occur as static ice caves, such as Durmitor Ice Cave, and dynamic or cyclical ice caves, such as

Eisriesenwelt The Eisriesenwelt (German for "World of the Ice Giants") is a natural limestone and ice cave located in Werfen, Austria, about 40 km south of Salzburg. The cave is inside the Hochkogel mountain in the Tennengebirge section of the Alps. I ...

Temperature mechanisms

In most of the world,

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of be ...

caves are thermally insulated from the surface and so commonly assume a near-constant temperature approximating the annual average temperature at the surface. In some cold environments, such as that surrounding

Mount Erebus Mount Erebus () is the second-highest volcano in Antarctica (after Mount Sidley), the highest active volcano in Antarctica, and the southernmost active volcano on Earth. It is the sixth-highest ultra mountain on the continent. With a sum ...

, average surface (and thus cave) temperatures are below freezing, and with surface water available in summer, ice caves are possible and are sometimes overlain by fumarolic ice towers. However, many ice caves exist in

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

climates, due to mechanisms that result in cave temperatures being ''colder'' than average surface temperatures where they formed. ''Cold traps'': Certain cave configurations allow seasonal

convection Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the c ...

to import cold

air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

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 Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughou ...

and shade it from the summer

sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

’s rays, which may further contribute to the colder cave temperature. ''Permafrost'': Even temperate environments can include pockets of bedrock that are below freezing year round, a condition called

permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...

. 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 Percolation (from Latin ''percolare'', "to filter" or "trickle through"), in physics, chemistry and materials science, refers to the movement and filtering of fluids through porous materials. It is described by Darcy's law. Broader applicatio ...

, so ice formations are often limited to

crystals A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

from

vapor In physics, a vapor (American English) or vapour (British English and Canadian English; see spelling differences) is a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critical temperature,R. H. Petrucci, W. S. Harwood, and F. G. Her ...

, 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

latent heat Latent heat (also known as latent energy or heat of transformation) is energy released or absorbed, by a body or a thermodynamic system, during a constant-temperature process — usually a first-order phase transition. Latent heat can be underst ...

evaporation Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on the surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas phase. High concentration of the evaporating substance in the surrounding gas significantly slows down evaporation, such as when h ...

. This may create a zone within the cave that is cooler than the rest of the cave. Because many caves have seasonally-reversing draughts, the corresponding warming of the cave through

condensation Condensation is the change of the state of matter from the gas phase into the liquid phase, and is the reverse of vaporization. The word most often refers to the water cycle. It can also be defined as the change in the state of water vapo ...

in summer may occur at a different location within the cave, but in any event a moisture-saturated cave environment is likely to experience much more

evaporative cooling An evaporative cooler (also known as evaporative air conditioner, swamp cooler, swamp box, desert cooler and wet air cooler) is a device that cools air through the evaporation of water. Evaporative cooling differs from other air conditioning ...

than condensative warming.

Types of ice

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

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adapta ...

and can slowly flow in response to gravity or pressure from further accumulations. Sculpting from air flow and 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 A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

ice. True underground glaciers are rare. ''Ice formations'': Water that freezes before ponding may form icicles, ice-

stalagmite A stalagmite (, ; from the Greek , from , "dropping, trickling") is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typicall ...

s, ice columns or frozen

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several ...

s. ''Airborne moisture (water vapor)'': Freezing vapor can form

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a g ...

crystals, 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 Castleguard Cave is a limestone cave located at the north end of Banff National Park in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada. With of surveyed passages (as of 2007), it is Canada's longest cave, and its fifth deepest at . Castleguard Cave a ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

Examples

* Bandera Volcano Ice Cave (New Mexico, USA) *

Bixby State Preserve Bixby State Preserve is a nature reserve located in southwestern Clayton County, Iowa, in the midwestern United States. It is located north of Edgewood. It is operated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources as one of the Iowa state prese ...

(Iowa, USA) * Booming Ice Chasm (Alberta, Canada) * Bortig Pit Cave (Apuseni Mountains, Romania) *

Canyon Creek Ice Cave Canyon Creek Ice Cave, also known as Bragg Creek Ice Cave or Moose Mountain Ice Cave, is a small ice cave in limestone located in Kananaskis Country near the community of Bragg Creek, Alberta, Canada. Known to natives through prehistory, its 'dis ...

(Alberta, Canada) *

(Alberta, Canada) * Coudersport Ice Mine (Pennsylvania, USA) * Decorah Ice Cave State Preserve (Iowa, USA) * Demänovská Ice Cave (Slovakia) *

Dobšiná Ice Cave Dobšiná Ice Cave ( sk, Dobšinská ľadová jaskyňa; hu, Dobsinai-jégbarlang) is an ice cave in Slovakia, near the mining town of Dobšiná in the Slovak Paradise. Since 2000 it has been included on the UNESCO World Heritage list as a part of ...

(Slovakia) UNESCO World Heritage site (2000) *

(Werfen, Austria) * Grotta del Gelo (Sicily, Italy) *

Grotte Casteret The Grotte Casteret, also known by its Spanish names Gruta de Casteret or Gruta Helada de Casteret, is a limestone ice cave, located high in the Spanish Pyrenees, within the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park. Discovered in 1926 by Norbert Cast ...

(Aragon, Spanish Pyrenees) * Ice Mountain (West Virginia, USA) * Kungur Ice Cave (Perm Krai, Russia) *

Narusawa Ice Cave The Narusawa Ice Cave (, ''Narusawa Hyōketsu'') is a lava tube located in the Aokigahara forest, in the part that belongs to Narusawa Village, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. It is one of the three larger lava tubes at the northern foot of Mount Fu ...

, (Mount Fuji, Japan) * Niter Ice Cave (Idaho, USA) *

Sam's Point Preserve Sam's Point Preserve, or Sam's Point Dwarf Pine Ridge Preserve, is a preserve in Ulster County, New York, Ulster County on the highest point () of the Shawangunk Ridge in New York (state), New York, on the Wawarsing, New York-Shawangunk, New York, ...

(New York, USA) *

Scărișoara Cave Scărișoara Cave (, hu, Aranyosfői-jégbarlang), is one of the biggest ice caves in the Apuseni Mountains of Romania, in a part of Carpathian chain. It is considered a show cave and one of the natural wonders of Romania. It has also been descr ...

(Romania)Scarisoara Ice Cave – the biggest underground glacier in Romania
Travel Guide Romania website, December 24, 2014, retrieved 17 January 2016. *

Shawangunk Ridge The Shawangunk Ridge , also known as the Shawangunk Mountains or The Gunks, is a ridge of bedrock in Ulster County, Sullivan County and Orange County in the state of New York, extending from the northernmost point of the border with New Jerse ...

(New York, USA) * Speilsalen (Norway) collapsed in 2007 * Víðgelmir (West Iceland)

References

External links

goodearthgraphics.com
Video of an ice cave in the Big Snowy Mountains of Montana
YouTube video *Rod Benso

For Montana website, selfpublished, 2009, retrieved 17 January 2016.

Eisriesenwelt Austria, undated. retrieved 17 January 2016
Kungur Ice CaveDurmitor Ice Cave

Speleoglacio Ice Cave Research Group
University of Milano, Italy *Marco Pleban
GROTTE DI GHIACCIO
Marco Plebani website, June 2009, 3pp (in Italian), retrieved 17 January 2016. {{Authority control