Swirl pots

There are many whirlpools in the Viamala Gorge. Two particularly impressive and well-preserved examples are accessible via the staircase. One, with a diameter of an impressive 3.5 metres, is located right by the bridge on the opposite side of the gorge. The other is located directly below the lowest visitor platform. It measures only about one metre in diameter but is an impressive 10 metres deep. Swirl pots often form under glacial ice when meltwater plunges through crevasses into the depths and comes under very high pressure.

Constant dripping wears away the stone

However, a glacier does not necessarily have to be present for swirl pots to form. The central element is water with a strong current. If whirlpools then form, swirl pots are created by friction. The often-circulated story that these formations are caused by erratic blocks that have been ground into the rock by constant rotation is not true.

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