Coudersport Ice Mine
Encyclopedia
The Coudersport Ice Mine is an ice cave
located in Sweden Township, Pennsylvania
(east of Coudersport
) that forms icicles in the spring and summer but not in the winter. Ice formations appear in the shaft during the spring of the year, continue through the hot weather, and disappear in winter. Ice appears in various shapes and forms, often as huge icicles measuring from 1 to 3 foot (0.9144 m) in thickness, and from 15 to 25 feet (7.6 m) in length; the ice is generally clear and sparkling.
The origin may be thus: during the winter, cold air over the hilltop sinks into rock openings in the Lock Haven Formation
(Devonian age
) and slowly expels the warm air that had penetrated these openings during the preceding summer. Ordinarily this process takes place locally, but here the interconnection of the rock crevices tends to be so arranged that the air circulation over a wide region is focused on one spot. Thus, from April or May to September, cold air comes in contact with percolating groundwater, forming ice during the hot months of the year; from September to late spring, warm air trapped in the rocks from the preceding summer, escapes and melts the ice.
Discovered in 1894, the cave is about 40 feet (12.2 m) deep, about 8 feet (2.4 m) wide, and 10 feet (3 m) long. The cave was open to the public for many decades, but is was closed in 1990.
Ice cave
The term ice cave refers to any type of natural cave that contains significant amounts of perennial ice...
located in Sweden Township, Pennsylvania
Sweden Township, Pennsylvania
Sweden Township is a township in Potter County, Pennsylvania, United States.-History:Sweden Township was formed on February 26, 1828 from Eulalia Township...
(east of Coudersport
Coudersport, Pennsylvania
Coudersport is a borough in Potter County, Pennsylvania, east by south of Erie on the Allegheny River. The populations were these: 1,530 in 1890; 3,217 in 1900; and 3,100 in 1910. The population was 2,650 at the 2000 census...
) that forms icicles in the spring and summer but not in the winter. Ice formations appear in the shaft during the spring of the year, continue through the hot weather, and disappear in winter. Ice appears in various shapes and forms, often as huge icicles measuring from 1 to 3 foot (0.9144 m) in thickness, and from 15 to 25 feet (7.6 m) in length; the ice is generally clear and sparkling.
The origin may be thus: during the winter, cold air over the hilltop sinks into rock openings in the Lock Haven Formation
Lock Haven Formation
The Lock Haven Formation is a Devonian mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States.-Description:The Lock Haven is gray to green-brown sandstone, siltstone, and shale and is over 400 million years old...
(Devonian age
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
) and slowly expels the warm air that had penetrated these openings during the preceding summer. Ordinarily this process takes place locally, but here the interconnection of the rock crevices tends to be so arranged that the air circulation over a wide region is focused on one spot. Thus, from April or May to September, cold air comes in contact with percolating groundwater, forming ice during the hot months of the year; from September to late spring, warm air trapped in the rocks from the preceding summer, escapes and melts the ice.
Discovered in 1894, the cave is about 40 feet (12.2 m) deep, about 8 feet (2.4 m) wide, and 10 feet (3 m) long. The cave was open to the public for many decades, but is was closed in 1990.
Sources
- Shear, Thomas (no date), The wonderful ice mine - History and description of the Coudersport Ice Mine, The Coudersport Ice Mine, Coudersport, Pennsylvania, 25p.