How cold can ice caves get?

An ice cave is any type of natural cave (most commonly lava tubes or limestone 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 must have traveled into the cave's cold zone.



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Northernmost and Coldest Caves in the World: Greenland Caves Project (Hazel Barton) | Northern Rocky Mountain Grotto.

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An ice cave is any type of natural cave (most commonly lava tubes or limestone 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 must have traveled into the cave's cold zone.

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Once a cave builds up a sizable mass of ice and a large volume of the surrounding bedrock becomes cold, thermal inertia propels frigid temperatures through the heat of summer. Duck Creek Ice Cave, formed in a sinkhole on the Markagunt Plateau, is an example of a cold trap ice cave.

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Glacier ice is blue because the red (long wavelengths) part of white light is absorbed by ice and the blue (short wavelengths) light is transmitted and scattered.

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The temperature of a cave is usually close to the average annual temperature for the region where it's located. For example, caves in Texas can be as warm as 70º F. Caves in Missouri might be between 55º F and 60º F. Caves in Wisconsin might be a chilly 50º F.

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They form naturally when summer meltwater carves long tunnels and caves underneath the thick ice sheets. As these are natural caves that melt and break down each summer, they're constantly changing.

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