Hydrology
I have added a link to a scientific paper by Ben Miller. The paper discusses the hydrology of Carroll Cave. As part of the project, extensive dye tracing was performed. The result is a comprehensive view of where the water in the cave comes from and where it goes.
You can go to the paper from the “Links” section on the right side of the web page or by going to this URL:
The marked trail around the Giant formation in Carroll Passage has pretty much disintegrated. It needs to be rebuilt.
looks like snotites. They are probably strands of calcite that is not yet hard. I got that stuff all over me!
In early January 2018 Carroll Cave Conservancy bought and installed another stream level data logger. The new logger is located about 150 feet downstream from Thunder Falls.
The hypothesis supporting the new logger is that Lower Thunder River floods before Upper Thunder River. The flood progression is for Upper Thunder River to run at normal or slightly elevated levels until Lower Thunder River is completely flooded. Only then does the water level in Upper Thunder River begin to rise.
2017 was, with one exception, a rather dull year regarding hydrology events in Carroll Cave. Two major floods were recorded along with one minor flood.
The major floods occurred on 29 April and 5 May. In both cases Thunder River rose to a bit over 20 feet. This is not the highest level we have seen, but it is not far from it. A minor flood occurred on 6 August with Thunder River rising to just under 3 feet. Otherwise the stream level was normal for the whole year.