Earth’s Cryosphere, 2023, Vol. XXVII, No. 3, p. 36-50.

SNOW COVER AND GLACIERS

MOULINS: FORMATION AND SIGNIFICANCE

B.R. Mavlyudov

Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Staromonetnyi per. 29, Moscow, 119017 Russia
*Corresponding author; e-mail: bulatrm@bk.ru

The causes and conditions of the formation and changes of moulins are considered on the basis of author’s own data and literature sources. Moulins can be formed above the water level in crevasses in glacier ice and cannot be formed below the water level. A cylindrical shape of the moulins is associated with splashing of water jets at a certain depth from the glacier surface. The issues related to different mechanisms of the formation of moulins, their depth, age, and water level fluctuations are discussed. A possible connection of moulins with the internal drainage system of glaciers is shown. The relationship between moulins and thrusts in the glacier ice is specially considered, because there are glaciers, in which water does not penetrate to the glacier bed through the moulins.

Keywords: internal drainage of glaciers, moulins, slip planes inside ice

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Recommended citation: Mavlyudov B.R., 2023. Moulins: formation and significance. Earth’s Cryosphere, XXVII (3), 36–50.