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Origin of Crystal Rock Cave, Ohio, USA and its record of Lake Erie variation through speleothem analyses

McDaniel, Kyle
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1530544408347209

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Science, University of Akron, Geology.
The lands adjacent to the North American Great Lakes have very limited potential for retaining archives in karst voids. The absence of caves, either due to lack of speleogenesis, obliteration by subglacial processes, or infilling with glacial drift, all conspire to make such situations quite rare. Crystal Rock Cave, Erie County, Margaretta Twp., Ohio, is one of the few known caves within the paleo-lake boundaries of present-day Lake Erie. Formed in the Upper Bass Islands Dolomite of the Bellevue-Castalia Karst Plain, this approximately 50 m long cave also contains significant (0.254 m) thicknesses of flowstone. Such deposits are unknown from the few other nearby caves on the south side of the lake. The cave elevation of 190 mamsl places it within the range of Pleistocene lake altitudes (up to 244 mamsl), making it possible that the cave has been inundated during one or more lake high-stands. The origin of the cave and history recorded in speleothems are the main foci of this study. To determine origin of the cave a three dimensional model and radial cross-section were constructed, and characteristics of the cave were examined and noted (e.g., dissolution features and sediment and the location of water table and speleothems). Additionally, regional and local hydrology were examined. A subsample of flowstone speleothem was collected from a large block (circa 0.2 m thick by 0.35 m long by 0.2 m deep). Optical petrographic thin sections of the sample were made and analyzed to determine speleothem properties as a way to better understand cave history. U-Th radiometric ages were also obtained from the speleothem to better understand absolute age of the speleothem and minimum age of the cave. Due to the unique morphology of and lack of dissolution features in the cave, the speleogenetic process that formed the cave is likely a collapse related process (uplift, collapse, brecciation) tied to underlying evaporite units. The petrography indicates that the main speleothem fabric in all samples is columnar calcite. Also, there are multiple diagenetic episodes recorded in the speleothem, such as dissolution and recrystallization. There are multiple thin detrital laminations that are indicative of seasonal variation in drip water or lake flooding events. 2,185 laminations were counted in 8.3 cm of speleothem, which are also indicative of annual and seasonal variation in drip water supply. It is unlikely that the cave is older than 14,000 years, because approximately 1,500 m of glacial ice would probably have obliterated the cave. The speleothem material is dateable by U-Th disequilibrium. The cave was likely inundated by Lake Erie at least once because the bottom microdrilled layer of the 8.3 cm thick sample dated at approximately 11,500 years bp + 2,000 years and the Lake Erie water fluctuation curve indicates that if the cave was present 12,500 ybp, it would have been submerged. Speleothem growth occurred when Crystal Rock Cave was generally not submerged by Lake Erie, because speleothems form in air-filled caves (vadose zone). Due to the presence of ostracods, the cave was flooded at some point between 6,000 ybp + 1,000 years and 11,500 ybp + 2,000 years, and if the speleothem was submerged in water, growth was not occurring. Since Lake Erie water level has been known in the past to anomalously raise several meters due to large lake surges, the introduction of the ostracods, exclusively an aquatic species, is possibly either from a large lake storm surge or from groundwater.
Ira Sasowsky, Dr. (Advisor)
James Thomka, Dr. (Committee Member)
John Senko, Dr. (Committee Member)
102 p.
Geology
speleothem, karst, Lake Erie, speleogenesis, petrology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • McDaniel, K. (2018). Origin of Crystal Rock Cave, Ohio, USA and its record of Lake Erie variation through speleothem analyses [Master's thesis, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1530544408347209

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • McDaniel, Kyle. Origin of Crystal Rock Cave, Ohio, USA and its record of Lake Erie variation through speleothem analyses . 2018. University of Akron, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1530544408347209.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • McDaniel, Kyle. "Origin of Crystal Rock Cave, Ohio, USA and its record of Lake Erie variation through speleothem analyses ." Master's thesis, University of Akron, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1530544408347209

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

akron1530544408347209
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This open access ETD is published by University of Akron and OhioLINK.