Strudel pot
A whirlpool (also known as a whirlpool hole) is a funnel-shaped cavity ( scour ) that has been eroded in solid rock by running water . This erosion process occurs in nature wherever water flows in torrents, ravines , canyons or glaciers .
Erosion process
The water penetrating into the rock crevices erodes the rock and cavities are created in which the falling water with the rock fragments and sand carried along washes the cavities further. This erosion process is intensified by the formation of eddies and water rolls. The result is funnel-shaped or kettle-shaped cavities with a diameter of a few decimeters up to several 100 meters.
In glacial ice these erosion processes are frequently encountered by the meltwater. The meltwater that penetrates crevasses at high flow speeds forms glacier mills with the sand and gravel particles that are carried along , which expand into glacier pots and can reach down to the bottom of the glacier.
The erosion process, how much the rock is ground out, also depends on the hardness of the stones that are swirled around in the whirlpool. If these are harder than the ground rock, then they are ground round; those made of hard granite are shaped into a ball (see picture).
Lucerne Glacier Garden
In the Lucerne Glacier Garden in Switzerland (museum) there are typically shaped glacier pots that were formed in the 20 million year old glacier. The 32 pots are up to 8 m wide and 9 m deep.
See also
- Gumpe - kolkä-like whirlpool at the foot of waterfalls
- Gletschertopf - kolkäse-like strudel pot at the foot of glacier mills
- Wind scour - scour formed by strong, uniform winds in the snow
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kolke - whirlpool holes - whirlpool pots
- ^ Strudeltopf , Mineralienatlas - Fossilatlas.
- ↑ Lucerne Glacier Garden