Cave Description

Lower Kane Cave (LKC) has 325 m of mapped horizontal length, with 180 m of <0.5 to 2 m depths 
stream passages. There is only one entrance to Lower Kane, and during periods of Bighorn River 
flooding (usually late spring), there is no entrance! There are three main thermal (~21^oC) sulfidic springs 
that discharge into LKC, above the elevation of where the river back-floods into the cave. It is possible 
that the springs are all part of the same hydrological "plumbing",  and just discharge as discrete points 
in the cave floor.

Plan-view cave map of Lower Kane Cave, modified from Egemeier (1981). Color-coding for floor substrate and microbial biofilms 
was done following an August 2000 trip.  

 Images from Lower Kane Cave

Last updated: 07/13/09. Images, maps, and other original material copyrighted by Annette Summers Engel, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.