Changing alpine ice caves

Austria is home to some of the largest ice caves in the world. Shortly before the onset of winter, we visited three of them to check the condition of the ice and take samples to constrain the age of the deepest ice layers. We visited Dachstein-Rieseneishöhle, a major tourist attraction in central Austria, as well as Beilstein-Eishöhle and Schwarzmooskogel-Eishöhle, two natural ice-bearing caves. Signs of ice retreat are widespread, but this also opens up the possibility of reaching deeper layers of ice as the gaps between the ice and the neighbouring rock gradually widen.