ICE CAVES AND FROZEN WELLS 



A NOTEWORTHY contribution 

 to an interesting topic appears 

 in the August number of the 

 Mont Illy Weather Revieiv (issued Octo- 

 ber 31, 1 901) under the title "Ice 

 Caves and Frozen Wells as Meteorolog- 

 ical Phenomena," by H. H. Kimball, of 

 the U. S. Weather Bureau (vol. xxix, 

 pp. 366-371, pis. i-iii). The paper is 

 partly a compilation, partly a record of 

 observations on the widely known Bran- 

 don well and at other localities ; it may 

 be regarded as a supplement to the book 

 on Glacieres, or Freezing Caverns, pub- 

 lished in 1900 by Kdwin Swift Balch. 

 The well-known ice caves, and some not 

 so well known, are described critically, 

 with due attention to actual temper- 

 atures and to seasons ; and a few ice 

 wells are similarly described. The pop- 

 ular idea that the ice accumulates in 

 summer and disappears in winter is re- 

 jected in toto; and the author concludes: 

 " It is evident that ice caves and frozen 

 wells are but different manifestations of 

 the same phenomenon. In both cases 

 the cold air of winter circulates to un- 

 usual depths below the surface, and 

 freezes the small quantity of water with 

 which it comes in contact. In summer 

 this subterranean circulation of the air 

 ceases, and heat finds its way to the ice 

 only by the slow process of conduction. 

 In consequence, the ice that accumu- 

 lates during the winter and early spring 

 may not entirely disappear during the 

 following summer, but continue to ac- 

 cumulate for ages." 



It is greatly to be regretted that recent 

 writers on ice caves and frozen wells 

 have not extended observation to the 

 ' ' blowing caves, " " breathing wells, ' ' 

 and "whistling wells" found .in vari- 

 ous parts of this and other countries, 

 and sporadically recorded in ephemeral 

 literature ; for the physical laws ex- 

 emplified in these are alike, and pre- 



sumptively connected with those re- 

 vealed in glacieres and ice wells. The 

 fact is too often overlooked that the 

 normal or ordinary cavern is a "breath- 

 ing cave," in that air currents flow al- 

 ternately in and out with a degree of 

 regularity conditioned by many factors, 

 among which varying atmospheric press- 

 ure is the primary one. The strength 

 of the ' ' breathing ' ' depends on the 

 relative sizes of the opening and of the 

 subterranean vault or chambers; when 

 the mouth is small and the cavern large, 

 the inspiration may be strong enough to 

 suck in dead leaves or sway overhanging 

 branches, while the expiration may suf- 

 fice to send dry leaves high in air or 

 blow off the hats of incautious visitors ; 

 though when the aperture is large or 

 multiple and the cavern small, the cur- 

 rent nia}^ be barely perceptible. The 

 regular breathing is diurnal, lagging 

 behind the daily range of the barometer 

 by minutes or hours, according to the 

 relative dimensions of orifice and vault; 

 though the diurnal rhythm is modified 

 and sometimes obscured by more gen- 

 eral changes in atmospheric pressure, 

 and also by temperature conditions. 

 In cavernous limestone regions where 

 winter snows lie deep, cave-hunting 

 boys soon learn to find hidden orifices 

 and to estimate the magnitude of the 

 caverns by the vapor columns emitted 

 on frosty mornings after a snowfall fol- 

 lowed by the customary drop in temper- 

 ature, the steam columns sometimes 

 rising hundreds of feet in a density ren- 

 dering them visible for miles. The 

 ' ' blowing well ' ' is the homologue of the 

 " breathing cavern," save that the sub- 

 terranean vault is replaced commonly by 

 a porous stratum or formation, usually 

 coarse sandstone or granular dolomite; 

 though it is possible that some such 

 wells penetrate or communicate with 

 open fissures or extended crevices in 



