Umbalfalls

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View from a viewing platform
Wavy abrasions
Strudel pots

The Umbal Falls are waterfalls in the upper reaches of the Isel (still called Umbalbach there) in the Umbal Valley west of Hinterbichl in the Hohe Tauern National Park in Austria . The waterfalls were declared a natural monument in 1991 .

getting there

At the end of the Virgental , the road continues from Hinterbichl to Ströden . There is a large paid parking lot and a bus stop. The two snack stations Pebellalm and Islitzeralm can be reached on foot in just under half an hour via an extended farm road ; in a little less time with a horse-drawn carriage. The water viewing path along the Umbal Falls begins at these pastures with several viewing platforms and explanatory display boards.

description

The water level is very different in the course of the year and the time of day, as the Isel transports the water of the Umbalkee and therefore has the characteristics of a typical glacial stream.

On the night of May 17-18, 1985, a flash flood caused by an avalanche occurred in the upper Isel valley , which destroyed half of the water viewing trail and briefly revived the discussion about the construction of a hydropower plant.

geology

Since the cataracts of the Umbal Falls are quite steep, the entire rock material is transported out of the glacier there . Over the millennia, the material carried along grinds the bedrock, causing the stream to cut into a gorge. The Umbalfalls show a transition stage from a sliding cataract along a layer boundary to a cascade staircase from pool to pool.

The diverse eddies and currents of the water create various rock shapes, which in turn increase the variety of flow patterns:

  • Gravel and gravel moved over the bed of the stream cause smoothing or wavy polished rock shapes
  • At the foot of inclines, the increased erosion force leads to the formation of pools
  • circling stones cause pot-like depressions, so-called vortex pots
  • result in larger vortex zones larger trays and side lobes, so-called scours

Web links

Commons : Umbalfälle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ After the spring tide disaster: Prägraten nevertheless confident about tourism. Umbalfalls continue to be a tourist magnet . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna June 1, 1985, p. 5 , below ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).

Coordinates: 47 ° 0 ′ 34 ″  N , 12 ° 17 ′ 46 ″  E