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

Abstract

Abstract Winter Wonderland Cave contains perennial ice associated with two types of cryogenic cave carbonate (CCC) formed during the freezing of water. CCCfine is characterized by relatively high δ13C values, whereas CCCcoarse exhibits notably low δ18O values indicating precipitation under (semi)closed-system conditions in a pool of residual water beneath an ice lid. Previous work has concluded that CCCcoarse 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 CCCcoarse 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.