What Is a Moulin?A moulin (French for "mill") is a narrow, tubular chute, hole or crevasse worn in the ice by surface water, which carries water from the surface to the base far below. They can be up to 10 meters wide and are typically found at a flat area of a glacier in a region of transverse crevasses. These holes can go all the way to the bottom of the glacier and can be hundreds of meters deep, or may reach the depth of common crevasse formation (about 10-40m) where the stream flows englacially.
These holes are a part of a glacier's internal "plumbing" system, to carry melt water out to wherever it may go. Water often exits the glacier at base level, but occasionally the lower end of a moulin may be exposed in the face of a glacier or at the edge of a stagnant block of ice.
This post was edited by Tallinn on Aug 1 2009 03:42am