Zuni-Bandera Ice Cave)

Bandera Volcano Ice Cave, also known as Zuni Ice Cave, is a lava tube cave in New Mexico with an internal temperature significantly less than above-ground summertime ambient temperature; it contains perennial ice.[1] The inside temperatures can fluctuate between −1 and 10 °C (31 and 50 °F). Some areas of the ice cave never reach above freezing. For years, local Indigenous people used the cave to store food.[1]

Geology

The lava tube was formed during the Bandera Crater eruption sometime between 9,500 and 10,900 years ago, during one of the many basaltic eruptions in the Zuni-Bandera volcanic field over the past million years.[2][3] The crater's cinder cone is 900-feet high reaching 8,309 feet above sea level.[4]

Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano

The eruption produced numerous formations in addition to lava tubes including a cinder cone, collapse pits, spatter cones and lava spine. The type of lava is ʻAʻā which is more viscous than pāhoehoe.[1] There are many lava tubes and several ice caves in the area including Giant Ice Cave.[4] One has been developed as a commercial ice cave near the Candelaria Trading Post.[3] Lava tubes in the area, "some dating back 115,000 years, formed a network of underground tubes stretching for 17 miles — the longest such system in the continental United States."[4]

Location

The cave system is located in the El Malpais lava field within the boundaries of El Malpais National Monument. The cave's location is N34° 59.556', W108° 04.926'.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Overview Geology References Pahoehoe Features Lava Tubes A-a Features & Ice Cave Cinder Cone Features of the Bandera Crater flow, Including Aa Lava & Ice Caves". New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  2. ↑ Laughlin, A. William; Poths, Jane; Healey, Heather A.; Reneau, Steven; WoldeGabriel, Giday (February 1, 1994). "Dating of Quaternary basalts using the cosmogenic 3He and 14C methods with implications for excess 40Ar". Geology. 22 (2): 135–138. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1994)022<0135:DOQBUT>2.3.CO;2.
  3. 1 2 "Geologic Background Zuni-Bandera Volcanic Field". New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 Benanav, Michael (August 28, 2014). "Into a Lava-Lined Underworld Near Albuquerque". The New York Times. Retrieved August 5, 2020.

34°59′30″N 108°04′58″W / 34.9916°N 108.0829°W / 34.9916; -108.0829

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