Microclimates in fumarole ice caves on volcanic edifices-Mount Rainier,
Washington, USA
Abstract
The fumarole ice caves of Mount Rainier in the Cascade Volcanic Arc in
Washington, USA, provide unique insight into the dynamic equilibrium
between thermal flux on volcanic edifices and snow accumulation on
summit glaciers. More than 3.5 km of surveyed cave passage nearly
circumnavigate the East Crater, reaching within 19 m of the 4392-m
summit and extending to 144-m-deep along the glacier-crater boundary.
The large circum-crater passage connects entrances on the crater rim to
steep transverse passages, and cave morphology is maintained by fumarole
gas convection and advection. A melt- and condensate-formed lake, Lake
Adélie, occupies a portion of the circum-crater passage. Hourly data
were collected between August 2016 and August 2017 and included the
measured temperatures at three fumarole, the cave air temperature and
pressure, the lake water temperature and depth, and the outside
temperature and snow depth at Paradise Visitors Center. Time-series
analyses of these data reveal complex associations between synoptic to
seasonal weather, fumarole activity, and lake level. On seasonal and
longer scales, fumarole temperatures follow independent pathways
connected to spatial and temporal changes in volcanic heat flux and the
circulation of glacial melt. For synoptic-scale meteorology, major
snowfall seals the cave entrances, increasing cave air temperature and
pressure from fumarole output and causing rising lake levels from
increased melt until entrances reopen. Repeating freeze-thaw cycles
observed in the cave monitoring data are a primary cause of crater mass
wasting. Despite these variations, the scale and morphology of the caves
is preserved over decadal or longer scales.