Wolf and ice penguins

The wolf and Eispinge (Czech Vlčí jáma a Ledová jáma ) are two closely spaced, through mining resulting pinging southwest of the summit of BLATENSKÝ VRCH at Blatná in Czech part of the Ore Mountains .

Both Pingen have been protected natural monuments since 1975 as well as selected components within the "Abertamy - Boží Dar - Horní Blatná" cultural landscape for the proposed candidacy for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Ore Mountains Mining Region .

Wolf spinge

View into the Wolfspinge (2005)

The wolf spinge is about 120 meters long, 25 meters deep and up to 14 meters wide. The name goes back to the mining of the Wolfgang Fundgrube . In the 16th century depth created here in about 35 meters by Weitungsbau a chamber, the hanging wall broke later. Later, more rock broke out of the side walls, which enlarged the pinge. In the 18th century, another vein, which is about 60 meters below the surface of the earth, took tons to 80 meters below the surface.

Eispinge

Eispinge with eponymous cave ice (May 2015)

The Eispinge is about 150 meters long, 20 meters deep, only about 1 to 1.5 meters wide and was not created by the collapse of pits, but by cutting a pewter corridor . The mining company was the Georg treasure trove . The prefix “ice-” comes from the fact that cave ice forms from the snow accumulated in winter from spring onwards, which does not completely melt during the entire summer half of the year.

The underlying natural phenomenon is as follows: In the crevice there is only an extremely low exchange of air with the surroundings (warmer in summer), which means that the cold air is retained in the crevice. A layer of fog often forms at a depth of 5 to 10 meters. At the end of winter, the accumulated snow has reached a thickness of about 1.5 meters. The melting process that begins in spring through heat transfer from the surrounding rock - the annual mean temperature of the rock is around 4 ° C - causes ice to form and is not yet over when the first snow is already deposited from autumn, including of course that opposite the flatlands significantly rougher climatic conditions at around 1000 m above sea level.

In August 2006, six Germans from Saxony were fined up to 1,800 euros each by the competent authorities in the Karlsbad district for damaging a natural monument. They were accused of having removed part of the ice in July 2005, during which they and the license plates of the vehicle were photographed. The reason for their actions was the competition of the Saxon radio broadcaster Radio PSR , which included building a snowman family in the middle of summer. A Czech environmentalist stated at the time that it would take five to six years for the natural amount to be deposited again.

In July 2007, the ice was completely melted for the first time, although it is unclear whether it was solely a result of the previously above-average warm winter or the "ice theft" in summer 2005.

Tourist development and protected area

The Wolfspinge is located on the educational trail ( Naučná stezka in Czech ) Horní Blatná - Vlčí jámy and can be viewed from there. One can descend into the Eispinge via a steep staircase. The path ends at a point from which you can see the ice sheet well.

On September 5, 1975, the two pings were declared natural monuments (Czech Přírodní památky ). The protected area enclosing them covers an area of ​​1.5 hectares.

literature

• Mining monuments in the mining region Erzgebirge / Krusnohory, German / Czech, Karlovarsky Kraj (Karlsbad region) 2014, nomination documentation for the project "Montane cultural landscape Erzgebirge-Krusnohory", Wolfspinge and Eispinge in Horny Platna p.39.

Web links

Commons : Wolfspinge  - Collection of Images

Commons : Eispinge  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Mining near the city of Platten. In: unbekannter-bergbau.de. L. Mitka, H.-J. Boeck, accessed July 27, 2015 . 
2. ^ Vlčí jámy - Wolf spinge. In: zivykraj.cz/de. Karlovarský kraj, accessed July 29, 2015 . 
3. ^ The Climate Near the Ground . Wiesbaden 1995, ISBN 978-3-322-86582-3 , The Microclimate of Caves, p. 403 (English, online excerpt from Google Books [accessed July 27, 2015]).
4. ↑ Michel Rahnefeld: Penalties for snow theft from caves in the Czech Republic. ARGE Höhle & Karst Grabenstetten eV, August 14, 2006, accessed on July 28, 2015 . 
5. ↑ unikátní Vlčí jámy na bez sněhu. In: denik.cz. VLTAVA-LABE-PRESS, as, July 22, 2007, accessed on July 29, 2015 (Czech). 
6. ^ PP Vlčí jámy. In: Ústřední seznam ochrany přírody (ÚSOP). Agentura ochrany přírody a krajiny ČR, accessed July 28, 2015 (Czech). 

Coordinates: 50 ° 23 ′ 55.3 "  N , 12 ° 46 ′ 42.5"  E