The formation and age of ice in caves
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26485/BP/1981/28/7Keywords:
massive ice, ice crystallography, Canadian cavesAbstract
Controversy regarding the age and origin of deposits of massive ice in high altitude caves has existed for almost a century. Some writers believe that the ice has formed during postglacial time, while others suggest glacial origins for the ice. Caves falling into the latter category are commonly at high altitudes in recently glaciated or periglacial regions.
Two cases illustrating crystallographic and isotopic techniques used in the study of cave ice are described from western Canada. In one case a vertical wall of ice completely blocks passages in a high attitude cave. In the other case two caves situated in a low altitude lava flow, which has been dated by radiocarbon analysis, are blocked by horizontal ice. The summary discusses the similarities in the ice crystallography of the caves and points out that the terms fossil and glacial ice must be severely restricted when describing cave ice deposits.
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