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| This surprisingly large unnamed natural cave was found in the Mississippi River gorge in the winter of 1989. It was formed along the cliff face by separation of joints in the Platteville Limestone, probably aided by slippage along the underlying Glenwood Shale. The thing that looks like a free-standing baseball bat is actually an ice stalagmite about one meter long. Most of the time, when ice does form in caves it takes the form of ice stalactites, more commonly called icicles. This is not a true ice cave, like the well-known example at Decorah, Iowa, because it does not retain its ice into the summer. |