High altitude karstic environments often preserve permanent ice deposits within caves, representing the lesserknown
portion of the cryosphere. Despite being not sowidespread and easily reachable asmountain glaciers and
ice caps, ice caves preserve much information about past environmental changes and climatic evolution.
We selected 1111 ice caves from the existing cave inventory, predominantly but not exclusively located in the
periglacial domain where permafrost is not dominant (i.e., with mean annual air temperature b3 °C but not in
a permafrost environment). The influence of climate and topography on ice cave distribution is also investigated.
In order to assess the thickness and the inner structure of the deposits,we selected two exemplary ice caves in the
Caninmassif (Julian Alps) performing several multifrequency GPR surveys. A strong influence of global and local
climate change in the evolution of the ice deposits has been particularly highlighted in the dynamic ice cave type,
especially in regard to the role ofweather extremes. The natural response of ice caves to a warming climate could
lead to a fast reduction of such icemasses. The increased occurrence of weather extremes, especially warmer and
more intense precipitation caused by higher mean 0 °C-isotherms, could in fact be crucial in the future mass
balance evolution of such permanent ice deposits.
