Ice Caves in Canada

• Main Authors: Yonge, Charles, Ford, Derek, Horne, Greg
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Digital Commons @ University of South Florida 2018
• Subjects: Mountain Glaciation; Cold Trap; Cold Zone; Permafrost; Stable Isotopes; Ice Crystallography; Canada; glacier*; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/kip_articles/2708; https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-811739-2.00015-2

Canada is a cold country, the northern part having discontinuous to continuous permafrost, and the southern half experiencing weeks to months of ice and snow cover at all elevations during the winter. The western provinces and northern territories have major mountain ranges with modern glaciers and icecaps. There are also extensive mountainous terrains above 1000 m in the east. With few caving clubs, large distances and difficult access, only some 700 caves have been reported in the Canadian Caver index to date. Most will display ice formations only during the winter, but a number contain enduring perennial ice. In this chapter we discuss 33 examples documented and studied to some degree. Via studies, including stable isotopes, crystallography, carbon dating, temperature and humidity, we find that cave ice formation falls broadly into three types: cold trap, cold zone, and permafrost, with ice caves exhibiting some or all types.