Ice Caves

Abstract

Ice caves are caves in rock with perennial ice accumulation. They differ from glacier caves, which are caves formed in ice. They can occur at higher elevations and higher latitudes, where the mean annual surface air temperature is below freezing, but the majority are found in regions with a mean annual surface air temperature above freezing, owing their existence merely to a particular cave microclimate. Such microclimates are responsible for zones of negative temperature anomalies where ice accumulation takes place. The ice mostly accumulates as frozen water, but deposition of snow through vertical cave entrances can also result in ice diagenesis. Historical reports of ice caves can be traced back to as early as the twelfth century. Their recognition has grown greatly in recent years because cave ice and the cryogenic cave minerals therein offer numerous proxies for paleoclimatological and paleoenvironmental studies.