The Sandy Glacier Cave Project: The Study Of Glacial Recession From Within

The Sandy Glacier Cave Project is a National Speleological Society (NSS) sponsored study on the unique system of glacier caves located on the Sandy Glacier on the western flank of Mt Hood, Oregon. While the study primarily targets the structure, layout and ice volume change of the ever moving cave system by conducting annual grade 5 surveys, numerous tangential observations and trends have been recorded that are of great interest to the study of glacial recession, watershed hydrology, micro-biology and astro-biology, as well as the study of organic specimens and remains being thawed out of the ice mass by the expanding cave. Water analysis of the three cave streams involved show significant differences, despite their close proximity, which could indicate differences in the speed of glacier movement along the span of the glacier. Annual cave surveys are revealing massive volumes of ice melting from within the glacier, a figure not obtainable via traditional surface observations. Biological specimens and remains have been located, perfectly preserved, that were previously encapsulated in the glacier, and thus serve as a time capsule for subsequent study