The Great Subterranean Spring of Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, and the
potential impact of subsurface urban heat islands (SUHIs)
Abstract
Anthropogenic subsurface urban heat islands (SUHIs) in groundwater under
cities are known worldwide. SUHIs are potentially threats to springs
because much spring fauna, like trout, amphipods, and rare plants, is
cold stenothermal. The city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, has a SUHI
documented by the temperature of an underground spring, dubbed “Little
Minnehaha Falls,” inside Schieks Cave, which is located 23 m below the
central core of the city. In 2000 the temperature of that spring was
elevated 11°C above regional background groundwater temperatures (8°C)
at this latitude (45°N). A thermometric survey of the cave and nearby
tunnel seepages in 2007 found that an abandoned drill-hole through the
bedrock ceiling of the cave was discharging groundwater with a
temperature of 17.9°C. By comparison, groundwater in the deep
water-table below the cave was closer to natural background temperatures
for the region. The unusually warm groundwater was thereby localized to
the strata above the cave. This is the strongest signal of anthropogenic
groundwater warming in the state of Minnesota and is attributed to
vertical heat conduction from basements and pavements. Minneapolis is
unique among SUHIs in that a cave forms a natural collection gallery
deep below the city surface, whereas the literature is almost
exclusively based on data from observation wells.