<p>I study the fumarolic ice caves of Erebus Volcano, and am looking for published research on similar sorts of caves. My criteria for a "fumarolic ice cave" are that it must be:</p>

<ul>
<li>A gas-filled void space in a snowpack large enough to fit humans</li>
<li>Present because of geothermal or volcanic heat</li>
<li>Not primarily present because of a flow of water</li>
</ul>

<p>So far, these are the fumarolic ice caves I know of:</p>

<ul>
<li>The <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011GL048272">fumarolic ice caves</a> of Mt. Erebus, Antarctica</li>
<li><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0377-0273%2899%2900180-8">The crater firn caves</a> of Mt. Rainier, USA</li>
<li><a href="http://www.caves.org/pub/journal/PDF/V60/V60N1-Anderson.pdf">Crater firn caves</a> of Mt. St. Helens, USA</li>
<li><a href="http://www.oregongeology.org/pubs/og/OBv40n08.pdf">Caves in Mt. Baker's Sherman Crater</a>, USA</li>
<li>Small fumarolic ice cave on Villarrica volcano, Chile (no reference, I've just been in it)</li>
</ul>

<p>I imagine there are probably hundreds more and these things are common on glaciated volcanoes. I'd be particularly interested in references for Kamchatka and Iceland where I suspect I may not be able to find information because of the language barrier.</p>

<p>Note that I am not asking about rock-hosted caves with a permanent ice mass. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-16T18:21:11.580Z
Literally, the answer to your title question likely *no*.  I think this question is difficult to answer.  You already state there may be hundreds.  What kind of answer are you looking for?
gerrit
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-16T18:24:55.233Z
True, the answer was obviously "no," so I just edited the title. I'm looking for an answer that includes a list of the ones I'm missing, or a reference to such a list. This might be a good community wiki question I guess. Can we do that?
foobarbecue
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-16T20:22:43.970Z
This just seems to be too broad of a question. As you say, there's *hundreds* of these, and probably no well defined list. So then it turns into a list question... [this meta question](http://meta.earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/11/are-list-questions-welcome) talks about list questions.
hichris123
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-16T21:30:32.473Z
I think it's not broad at all -- it's a very specific, rare type of geological phenomenon and I think I've defined it well. It certainly is a list question and I wasn't aware of the unresolved debate over list questions.
foobarbecue
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-18T01:01:15.200Z
I wonder if it's too *specific*. Wikipedia wouldn't host a list of these caves for that reason. To my mind, it's something akin to asking "what are all the large roundabouts with plants on the in the US"?
naught101
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-18T22:11:16.307Z
So, it's interesting to note that no one answered this question. I actually think the fact of the matter is that I was wrong to guess there are hundreds, and there are only a few of these in existence. I still don't know if there ARE any in Iceland or Kamchatka. Can anyone suggest a way to find out, since apparently this is the wrong venue?
foobarbecue
<volcanology><glaciology>
Any other fumarolic ice caves in the literature?
foobarbecue
# Any other fumarolic ice caves in the literature?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-04-16)

I study the fumarolic ice caves of Erebus Volcano, and am looking for published research on similar sorts of caves. My criteria for a "fumarolic ice cave" are that it must be:

* A gas-filled void space in a snowpack large enough to fit humans
* Present because of geothermal or volcanic heat
* Not primarily present because of a flow of water

So far, these are the fumarolic ice caves I know of:

* The [fumarolic ice caves](http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011GL048272) of Mt. Erebus, Antarctica
* [The crater firn caves](http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0377-0273%2899%2900180-8) of Mt. Rainier, USA
* [Crater firn caves](http://www.caves.org/pub/journal/PDF/V60/V60N1-Anderson.pdf) of Mt. St. Helens, USA
* [Caves in Mt. Baker's Sherman Crater](http://www.oregongeology.org/pubs/og/OBv40n08.pdf), USA
* Small fumarolic ice cave on Villarrica volcano, Chile (no reference, I've just been in it)

I imagine there are probably hundreds more and these things are common on glaciated volcanoes. I'd be particularly interested in references for Kamchatka and Iceland where I suspect I may not be able to find information because of the language barrier.

Note that I am not asking about rock-hosted caves with a permanent ice mass.

**Tags:** volcanology, glaciology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Literally, the answer to your title question likely *no*.  I think this question is difficult to answer.  You already state there may be hundreds.  What kind of answer are you looking for?  
> **username_0**: True, the answer was obviously "no," so I just edited the title. I'm looking for an answer that includes a list of the ones I'm missing, or a reference to such a list. This might be a good community wiki question I guess. Can we do that?  
> **username_2**: This just seems to be too broad of a question. As you say, there's *hundreds* of these, and probably no well defined list. So then it turns into a list question... [this meta question](http://meta.earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/11/are-list-questions-welcome) talks about list questions.  
> **username_0**: I think it's not broad at all -- it's a very specific, rare type of geological phenomenon and I think I've defined it well. It certainly is a list question and I wasn't aware of the unresolved debate over list questions.  
> **username_3**: I wonder if it's too *specific*. Wikipedia wouldn't host a list of these caves for that reason. To my mind, it's something akin to asking "what are all the large roundabouts with plants on the in the US"?  
> **username_0**: So, it's interesting to note that no one answered this question. I actually think the fact of the matter is that I was wrong to guess there are hundreds, and there are only a few of these in existence. I still don't know if there ARE any in Iceland or Kamchatka. Can anyone suggest a way to find out, since apparently this is the wrong venue?  

---

## 0 answers

