Ringeis: Dynamic climatologic processes of barometric cave systems using the example of Jewel Cave and Wind Cave in South Dakota, USA Jewel and Wind Cave are two big barometric cave systems in Sout� Dakota, USA. The entrances of Jewel and Wind Cave are roug�ly 50 km apart, and until now it is unknown w�et�er t�eir entrances belong to two separate caves or to one muc� larger cave system. One possibility for testing t�ese two competing �ypot�eses is to measure and analyse t�e climatic conditions in t�e vicinity of t�ese entrances and wit�in t�e caves in detail. In t�is context, t�e t�ermal conditions and air currents are crucial. These in turn can be c�aracterised by t�e spatial and temporal patterns of t�e dynamics of air entering and leaving t�roug� t�e respective entrances; even t�oug� t�ese dynamics are coupled to atmosp�eric pressure fluctuations outside t�e caves, t�ey differ for different cave systems and provide a "fingerprint" t�at �as implications for t�e size and structure of individual cave systems. To give an example, Jewel and Wind Cave as t�e second and fourt�-largest cave systems on eart� s�ow some similarities, but many more noticeable differences regarding t�eir climatological be�aviour, despite t�eir close proximity to eac� ot�er. The last big measurement campaigns on t�e climatic systems of t�e two barometric caves were carried out by Herb and Jan Conn in t�e 1960s, (Conn 1966). Despite t�eir elementary work, t�e tec�nical possibilities were very limited in t�ose days. The self-constructed me-c�anical measurement equipment could only be used for basic measurements. Herb Conn was still able to identify t�e basic mec�anism very clearly. He also carried out a number of different calculations on barometric air flow t�at remain important COBISS: 1.01
The focus of this article is both a region and a type of cave not typically associated with ice caves. Nevertheless, both the region and the type play an important role in American ice-cave research. Talus-and-gorge ice caves in the northeastern United States can be used as climate indicators for a whole region; and therefore, they are the target of this young field of research. Ice caves, in general, are sensitive climatopes that can serve as excellent indicators for short and long term changes in the climate of a region, principally because of shifts between phases of increasing ice growth and melting during a year and over time. This research started with an investigation of known talus-and-gorge ice caves, followed by environmental monitoring of selected caves with perennial ice that were equipped with temperature sensors recorded over four years. This is one of the world's longest high-resolution climatologic monitoring record of such caves. In addition, the height of the ice was surveyed annually at a time when ice would most likely be at its minimum, the start of November. This allowed for investigation of the annual changes and the influence of the temperature over the previous year. Some predictions for the future of the ice caves and the whole region could be deduced from the data. At the moment, there is no sign of either a renewed increase in the number of talus-and-gorge ice caves or an increase in ice accumulation within the existing ones.D. Holmgren, A. Pflitsch, K. Rancourt, and J. Ringeis. Talus-and-gorge ice caves in the northeastern United States past to present-A microclimatological study.
Natural and anthropogenic ice caves are spread out on the North American continent, especially in the United States. Many of these climate archives are already forgotten, no longer contain ice due to climatic changes, or are expected to lose their ice soon. However, sources from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries suggest the former density of ice caves in this nation. A synopsis of the American ice cave research from its beginnings in the early nineteenth century to the present is the focus of this article. A priori, basic terms and problems of ice cave research are addressed and elucidated. Subsequently, climatic conditions that facilitate or counteract the buildup of cave ice over the course of a year are presented. On the basis of an ice cave classification, different ice cave types are outlined and analyzed in their distribution in the United States. The accompanying map illustrating the geographic locations of caves in the mainland United States represents the first version of an American ice cave distribution.
The main goal of this paper is to summarize the history and the progress of ice cave research in the northern hemisphere as an introduction to the following papers about modern research in the U.S. We focus on the earliest descriptions of ice caves starting from the twelfth century, a cave with ice in India, as well as the beginning of modern ice cave research in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Moreover, we give a short overview of the different theories about ice caves over the course of time. The article is an introduction to the much younger ice cave research in the U.S., which will be the topic of a second paper in this journal. ice Cave research over the Course of timeIce cave research plays only a minor role in the research of ice and snow. Less visible and much smaller than the vast ice masses above ground, the more concealed subsurface ice has been of little interest to many researchers. However, beneath the surface are numerous ice formations with a great variety of forms ranging from ice monoliths several meters thick, to ice lakes, to delicate ice crystals millimeters in size. These icy features store a vast record of climate history.Over the centuries, clergymen, amateurs, natural scientists, and locals have visited the subsurface world of ice to see this phenomenon themselves and to find an explanation for its existence. Over time, many theories about the development of ice caves have evolved, but as of today, the fundamental research has not been completed. Later in this paper, we will give a basic overview of the best-known ice cave theories.As research often focuses on cost-benefit considerations, basic research without a clearly defined impact increasingly loses prominence. This questions the benefit of ice cave research in general. But just as the exploration of the most distant regions of the universe or the abyssal depths of the sea, ice cave research has the potential to create new knowledge. For example, one can learn about the regional and local climate history outside the mountainous regions that are covered by glaciers on the surface.In a series of three papers in this journal, the historical, as well as the current research on ice caves, will be presented to review lost or forgotten knowledge and to attempt to revive and support ice cave research, which is stagnant in some countries. After an overview of the first records of underground ice in Europe and Asia, the second article covers the records and research in the United States. The third article is about our own research in gulch, talus, and slope ice in New England.It is well known from the analysis of ice cores and pollen that the ice in some caves is several thousand years old, has outlasted several climatic temperature maxima, and is not a remnant of the Little Ice Age as was supposed in former times (Silvestru, 1999). Historic documents, for example, describe the complete extinction of ice from the Chauxlès-Passavant (France), which was followed by a new ice accumulation (Fugger, 1893).When were ice caves first ...
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