Walking around in the winter, I have noticed that even when ponds and running streams are frozen, seeps (those little wet areas where a small spring reaches the surface) are not. Why do they not freeze as well?
movement and warmth prevent freezing.
Two possibilities: they’re backed up by extremely high pressure, and they’re fed by water from unfrozen ground.
If the source of the seep is high above, every 33ft adds an extra 1atm of pressure. Probably this is why it’s able to force its way through tiny fissures in the first place. If it freezes, the ice will be pushed along or possibly fracture. The only way to stop it would be if the surface froze to a depth of many meters.
Because the water source of the seeps is deep underground, where the temperature stays constant, regardless of the outside weather. (The Mammoth Cave in Kentucky stays the same temp year around, regardless of the weather outside, and so do the springs deep in the cave. )