Cryogenic cave carbonate and implications for thawing permafrost at Winter Wonderland Cave, Utah, USA

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Munroe, Jeffrey, Kimble, Kristin, Spötl, Christoph, Marks, Gabriela Serrato, McGee, David, Herron, David
• Other Authors: Middlebury College
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2021
• Subjects: Multidisciplinary; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-85658-9; http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-85658-9.pdf; http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-85658-9

Abstract Winter Wonderland Cave contains perennial ice associated with two types of cryogenic cave carbonate (CCC) formed during the freezing of water. CCC fine is characterized by relatively high δ 13 C values, whereas CCC coarse exhibits notably low δ 18 O values indicating precipitation under (semi)closed-system conditions in a pool of residual water beneath an ice lid. Previous work has concluded that CCC coarse forms during permafrost thaw, making the presence of this precipitate a valuable indicator of past cryospheric change. Available geochronologic evidence indicates that CCC formation in this cave is a Late Holocene or contemporary process, and field observations suggest that the cave thermal regime recently changed in a manner that permits the ingress of liquid water. This is the first documented occurence of CCC coarse in the Western Hemisphere and one of only a few locations where these minerals have been found in association with ice. Winter Wonderland Cave is a natural laboratory for studying CCC genesis.