During the past two expeditions to Terranova Bay, mapping and gas and thermal monitoring conducted under the ICE-VOLC project have provided insights into the ice cave formation processes and the relationships between cave structures and magmatic processes. 

The ice caves on Mt. Melbourne and Rittmann studied in our project are created by the interaction of warm fumarolic gases and ice and snow layers, abundantly and permanently present near the thermal areas, where the maximum air temperature probably never rises above -10 °C.

Ice caves are formed by warm gases which melt the snow near the ground, often creating an intricate network of rooms and passages. Inside the ice caves there is a specific atmospheric circulation generated by a mixing of the warm fumarolic gases from the ground (mainly water and CO2) and the cold air coming from the outside. The main way of escape of the mixed gas circulating inside the cave is through the external chimney-like ice tower. Inside the cave, cold air arriving through small fissures or porosity of snow becomes warmer and enriched in volcanic gases rising up the slope of the volcano, and finally escapes from the ice tower chimneys.