Distribution of karst caves with perennial ice in the Southern Urals and in the Cis-Urals

A. I. Smirnov; Yu. V. Sokolov

doi:10.31857/S2076673422030138

Distribution of karst caves with perennial ice in the Southern Urals and in the Cis-Urals

A. I. Smirnov, Yu. V. Sokolov

https://doi.org/10.31857/S2076673422030138

Full Text:

Abstract

The paper presents systematized information about distribution of karst caves containing accumulations of old ice and snow outside the zone of continuous permafrost. It was found that among total number of 1,150 caves in the region known by January 1, 2022, the old ice had been registered only in 68 (6%) ones. Distribution of them is conditioned by the general mechanisms of development of karst cavities, but a number of additional conditions are required to form the snow-ice accumulations within them. Ice and snow are formed mainly in bag-shaped caves conﬁned to the middle and upper parts of river valleys, or in caves located in the upper reaches of the ravines on the watershed areas, the entrances to which are represented by wells, deep karst channels or are located in sinkholes. The intensity of accumulation and conservation of snow and ice in caves, under other favorable morphological and hydrogeological conditions, is directly dependent on the area of the entrance to the cave and the slope of the ﬂoor at its entrance. Snow-ice accumulations are represented by ice bodies, stalactites and stalagmites, hoarfrost and large ice crystals, snow, ﬁrn and ice. The most developed of them is ice. The maximum recorded area of the cave ice is 5000 m², its thickness is 11 m, the depth of penetration of glaciation deep into the karst massif from the entrance reaches 70 m, and the length is 250 m. Factors that reduce the accumulation of snow and ice in the caves of the region include: periodic ﬂooding of karst cavities, shortening of woody vegetation on the surface above them, and cave attendance. On the case of the Askynskaya cave, the dependence of the state of snow-ice accumulations on local climatic conditions and the degree of anthropogenic load has been determined. It is recommended to monitor the state of snow and ice formations in the rarely visited Ledyanaya-Lipovaya cave with the most thick icing, in order to establish a correlation between the state of glaciation of the cave and changes in local climatic conditions.

Keywords

snow-ice formations, climatic conditions, accumulation factors, distribution patterns, Askynskaya cave,

About the Authors

A. I. Smirnov

Institute of Geology of the Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Ufa

Yu. V. Sokolov

Institute of Geology of the Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Ufa

References

1. Andrejchuk V.N., Kadebskaja O.I., Chajkovskij I.I. Microclimatic conditionality of cave subaerial mineral formation (on the example of the Kungur Ice Cave) . Speleologiya i Karstologiya. Speleology and Carstology . 2013, 10: 16–42 . [In Russian].

2. Vahrushev G.V. Bashkiria ice caves in gypsum and anhydrides . Peshery . Caves . 1965, 5 (6): 23–27 . [In Russian].

3. Vahrushev G.V.Ice caves in the carbonate rocks of Bashkiria . Peshery . Caves . 1972, 12–13: 108–117 . [In Russian].

4. Dmitriev V.E. On the question of an integrated approach to the study of cave ice . Voprosy geografii Sibiri. Questions of Geography of Siberia . 1980, 13: 99–102 . [In Russian].

5. Kadebskaja O.I., Stepanov Ju.I. Characteristics of ice and cryogenic minerals in the caves of the Kutuksky tract (Bashkortostan) . Geologija, geografija i global'naja jenergija. Geology, Geography and global Energy . 2016, 2: 30–39 . [In Russian].

6. Kadebskaja O.I., Stepanov Ju.I., Tumanov Ju.A. Askinskaya (Askynskaya) Ledyanaya peshchera. Askinskaya (Askynskaya) Ice Cave . Moscow: Russian Geographical Society, Russian Union of Speleologists, 2019: 396–399 . [In Russian].

7. Kadebskaja O.N., Mavlyudov B.R., Dubljanskij V.N. Changes in the state of the Kungur Ice Cave . Kungurskaja ledjanaja peshhera: opyt rezhimnyh nabljudenij . Kungur ice cave: experience of regime observations . Pod red . V .N . Dublianskogo . Ekaterinburg, 2005: 294–318 . [In Russian].

8. Kil'metova F.Sh. Climate . Atlas Respubliki Bashkortostan. Atlas of the Republic of Bashkortostan . Ufa, 2005: 69 [In Russian].

9. Kudrjashov I.K., Salihov R.A. Reasons for the preservation of cold and ice formation in the Askyn cave . Zapiski Bashkirskogo filiala Geograficheskogo Obshchestva SSSR. Notes of the Bashkir branch of the Geographical Society of the USSR . Ufa . 1968, 5: 68–79 . [In Russian].

10. Lobanov Ju.E. Negative temperature anomalies and morphology of caves in carbonate massifs . Akkumuljacija zimnego holoda v gornyh porodah i ego ispol'zovanie v narodnom hozjajstve. Accumulation of winter cold in rocks and its use in the national economy . Perm, 1981: 28–30 . [In Russian].

11. Lobanov Ju.E. Ural'skie peshhery. Ural caves . Sverdlovsk: Sredne-Uralsky Book Publishing House, 1979: 174 p . [In Russian].

12. Lobanov Ju.E., Ryzhkov A.F. Stages of development of caves in the zone of active water exchange in carbonate deposits . Peshery . Caves . 1986, 20: 60–68 . [In Russian].

13. Mavlyudov B.R. Oledenenie pesher. Glaciation of caves . Moscow: Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2008: 290 p . [In Russian].

14. Mavlyudov B.R. Snow and ice in caves (Glaciation of caves) . 2017 . Retrieved from: https://speleoatlas.ru/about-caves/natural-caves/sneg-i-led-v-peshcherakh-oleden-enie-peshcher/ (last access: 4 May 2022) [In Russian].

15. Maksimovich G.A. Osnovy karstovedenija. T. 1. Voprosy morfologii karsta, speleologii i gidrogeologii karsta. Fundamentals of Karst Studies . V . 1 . Questions of karst morphology, speleology and hydrogeology of karst . Perm: Perm Book Publishing House, 1963: 445 p . [In Russian].

16. Martin V.I. The main conditions of ice formation in caves, abandoned mine workings and its use in the national economy . Akkumuljacija zimnego holoda v gornyh porodah i ego ispol'zovanie v narodnom hozjajstve. Accumulation of winter cold in rocks and its use in the national economy . Perm, 1981: 43–44 . [In Russian].

17. Martin V.I., Smirnov A.I., Sokolov Ju.V. Bashkiria Caves . Peshery. Itogi issledovanij. Caves . Research results .1993, 23–24: 30–59 . [In Russian].

18. Smirnov A.I. Modern karst sinkholes on the territory of the Southern Urals and the Urals (within the borders of the Republic of Bashkortostan) . Inzhenernaja geologija. Engineering Geology . 2020, XV (4): 42–53 . [In Russian] . doi: 10.25296/1993-5056-2020-15-4-42-53.

19. Smirnov A.I., Abdrahmanov R.F., Durnaeva V.N. Types of karst and features of its distribution in the Southern Urals and in the Urals . Gelogicheskij vestnik . Geological Bulletin . 2019, 2: 111–124 . [In Russian] . doi: 10.31084/2619-0087/2019-2-9.

20. Smirnov A.I., Bakieva A.R. Karst map of the Ufa plateau (within the borders of the Republic of Bashkortostan) . Geologicheskij vestnik . Geological Bulletin . 2020, 3: 123– 136 . [In Russian] . doi: 10.31084/2619-0087/2020-3-10.

21. Smirnov A.I., Sokolov Ju.V. Caves of the mountainous part of Bashkiria (Southern Urals) . Ufa: Prepr . BNC UrO RAN, 1993: 54 p . [In Russian].

22. Sokolov D.S. Osnovnye uslovija razvitija karsta. The main conditions for the development of karst . Moscow: Gosgeoltehizdat, 1962: 322 p . [In Russian].

23. Sokolov Ju.V. Ice in the caves of Bashkortostan . Biologicheskoe raznoobrazie, speleologicheskie ob"ekty i istoriko-kul'turnoe nasledie ohranjaemyh prirodnyh territorij Respubliki Bashkortostan. Sbornik nauchnyh trudov FGU «Gosudarstvennyj prirodnyj zapovednik «Shul'gan-Tash», Bashkirskij gosudarstvennyj universitet . Biological diversity, speleological objects and historical and cultural heritage of protected natural territories of the Republic of Bashkortostan . Collection of scientific papers of the Federal State University «State Nature Reserve «Shulgan-Tash», Bashkir State University . Ufa . 2008, 3: 184–196 . [In Russian].

24. Sokolov Ju.V. Naled' in the Askyn ice cave . Geologicheskij vestnik. Geological Bulletin . 2020, 3: 13–151 . [In Russian] . doi: 10.31084/2619-0087/2020-3-11.

25. Stepanov Ju.I., Tajnickij A.A., Kichigin A.A. Ground-pen-etrating radar research of underground icings in the caves of the Urals . Kompleksnoe ispol'zovanie i ohrana podzemnyh prostranstv. Complex use and protection of underground spaces. Intern . scientific and practical conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of scientific and tourist activities in the Kungur Ice Cave and the 100th anniversary of the birth . V .S . Lukin . Perm: GI UrO RAN, 2014: 65–68 . [In Russian].

26. Timofeev D.A., Dubljanskij V.N, Kiknadze T.Z. Terminologiya karsta Karst terminology . Moscow: Nauka, 1991: 259 p . [In Russian].

27. Trofimova E.V., Sokolov Ju.V., Trofimov A.A . Ice in Askinskaya and Kinderlinskaya caves: comparative characteristics . Izvestiya Russkogo geograficheskogo obshchestva . Proceedings of the Russian Geographical Society . 2020, 152 (2): 70–74 . [In Russian] . doi: 10.31857/S086960712002007X.

28. Chervjacova O.Ja., Badino Dzh., Zhakova U.V. Evaluation of the causes of ice degradation in the Askyn ice cave . Speleologiya i spelestologiya: Materialy 3-y Mezhdunarodnoy nauchnoy zaochnoy konferentsii. Speleology and Spelestology: Proceedings of the 3rd Intern . Scientific Correspondence Conference . Naberezhnye Chelny: NISPTR, 2012: 14–24 . [In Russian].

Supplementary files

For citation: Smirnov A.I., Sokolov Y.V. Distribution of karst caves with perennial ice in the Southern Urals and in the Cis-Urals. Ice and Snow. 2022;62(3):363-376. https://doi.org/10.31857/S2076673422030138

Refbacks

There are currently no refbacks.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

ISSN 2076-6734 (Print)
ISSN 2412-3765 (Online)

Username
Password