Strudel (ice)

Their distribution tends to be controlled by weak areas in the ice – in places, they line up along fractures or refrozen extensional cracks.

The term strudel is German,[1] and designates a whirlpool, in reference to the water vortex that forms above these features during drainage.

It has been suggested that this vortex could present a hazard for investigators wishing to study this phenomenon in the field, and that this would explain, at least partly, why little is known about strudel.

[3][4][5] At that time, fresh water flows onto the fast ice with a progression rate of about 2–3 m/s, extending up to a few tens of kilometers away from the river mouth.

Strudel scours present risks to submarine pipelines if water action removes the soil from below a pipe segment such that it becomes a free span.