Eppan ice holes
The ice holes on the Gandberg between Eppan and Kaltern in South Tyrol are local cold-air areas in which the temperature differs significantly from the general temperature in the region. The phenomenon is explained with the physical principle of the wind tube (also known as convective air movement in cave exploration ).
The biotope above the Gand settlement is characterized by porphyry rubble , weathering products of the Gandberg, which rises steeply above and is part of the Mendel ridge . In summer, warm air flows in at the upper opening of the quartz porphyry , cools down on the rock that has been cooled down in winter, sinks and flows out again as cold air at the lower openings in the rock. It remains in a hollow about 200 m long, 50 m wide and 5 m high, because it is heavier than the warm air above. Your temperature directly at the ice hole is between zero and nine degrees. In the hollow, plants at 500 m above sea level find a habitat that is otherwise only found in high mountains , such as the rust-leaved alpine rose .
The ice hole phenomenon is also found in other places in the Alps; it often occurs on large stone heaps like in Eppan. What made the Eppan ice holes particularly well known is above all the fact that the cold air collects in the hollow below.
The many rock debris caused by a landslide near the ice holes have always stimulated the imagination of the population. The legend tells of a city that is buried under the rubble. The burial is the reckoning of God with their wicked inhabitants. The cold phenomenon has given rise to various speculations in recent times. An underground watercourse was suspected, including a buried, still-present Ice Age glacier. The explanation is conclusive based on the principle of the wind tube.
The Eppan ice holes are under nature protection.
literature
- Wilhelm Pfaff: The ice holes in the Überetsch . Schlern writings 24/1933.
- Adriano Cumer, Friedrich Ladurner: Temperature measurements in the area of the ice holes near Eppan . Activity report of the Biological State Laboratory of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, 1987.
- Working group of South Tyrolean secondary school teachers (ed.): Natural history hikes 3 . Athesia Publishing House 1990.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Protected biotope ice holes . Office for Nature, Landscape and Spatial Development, Autonomous Province of Bolzano - South Tyrol
Coordinates: 46 ° 26 '44.2 " N , 11 ° 14' 45" E