GRANITE GIANT'S KETTLE

Two hundred metres below the Wild Waterfall and Strażacka Street, the Łomnica River forms a natural 2-meter high cascade. At its foot there is a huge plunge pool created in a solid granite surface, with the diamater of 8 metres and a depth of 2.5 metra. Probably, the waterfall was larger in the past.

However, the biggest geological surprise waits on the left bank of the Łomnica River, around 0.5 m above the water surface of the plunge pool. It is a Giant's kettle also known as a pothole. Its form and shape are similar to a plunge pool, however it is much smaller and its proportions are reversed as its depth is greater than its diameter. The pothole in Karpacz has a regular shape of a well with a diameter of  0.73 - 0.86 m, maximum depth of 2.25 m and volume of c.a. 0,8 m3.

The process of formation of giant's kettles has still not been clearly explained.  Theoretically, giant's cauldrons are formed  by the rotary motion of rocks, which put into motion by water whirls, carve out the river bed creating a well. In the opinion of geomorphologists, presumably, it occured at the end of the ice age when enermous masses of water were flowing down from melting glaciers of the Big and Small Pond.

In 1892, the first research quest was organised, then about 30 granite stone balls were removed from the bottom of the pothole, out of which the largest one weighed 25 kg.The most beautiful specimens were passed on to the museums in Jelenia Górla and Berlin.  

Location: the riverbed of the Łomnica River below the Wild Waterfall