ASSESSMENT OF CAVE THERMAL ENVIRONMENT CONTROLS ON A CARBONATE ISLAND

Thermal environments of caves are important for understanding dissolutional processes, geochemical processes, and cave morphology. The purpose of this study is to assess the thermal environment of a tropical flank margin cave and link the climatic conditions inside the cave to external thermal conditions, tidal water thermal conditions, or heat transfer through surrounding carbonate rock. The study focuses on Crescent Top Cave, San Salvador, Bahamas, a small young flank margin cave with a single, small entrance and standing tidal water present in a pit at the back of the cave. Temperature data was collected with Onset Hobo H8 and Tidbit Temperature Sensors and Dataloggers^TM every 4 hours from 2006-2008. Based upon correlation results, a single mechanism does not control this flank margin cave’s microclimatology. Rather, the cave can be divided into two microclimatic zones, front and back, which are each controlled by separate heat sources. The front of the cave is more directly related to the exterior thermal environment and most likely influenced by the advection of external air through the down sloping entrance. In the back of the cave, heat transfer through conduction across the water surface to the air column above the pit at the rear of the cave influences the cave temperature.