On the way from the Dachstein to the Alpine foreland with Gmunden the glacial streams of the Traunglacier, which branched out at Bad Ischl, over and over again grazed bigger basins, which are filled today by beatiful lakes (Hallstätter Lake, Traun Lake, Wolfgang Lake, Moon Lake, Irr Lage, Atter Lake and many other smaller lakes). In between, however, the streams also hurdled rock barriers, which were especially exposed to the abrasion of the ice. At the base of a glacier carried sand and small stones burnish the rock, bigger lumps generate chinks and scratches. Striations are the product of the abrasived erosion of the glacier respectively the rubble of the ground moraine (moraine at the base of the ice), whereas rough rock surfaces are smoothed and polished. The scratches,chinks and weals, which are preserved up today, give information about the flow direction of the ice. Fig. 2 schematically shows the origin of a striation.
With the location Rindbach of the Upper Austrian village Ebensee such a striation was discovered in 1950 in the former gravel pit Loiping and was (partially) freed from the rubble and bolders afterwards. Today parts of the striation there has become overgrown with vegetation and, therefore, just some segements of it can be seen. In 1982 it has been declared as a natural monument and so it is strictly protected since this point of time. Beside the effect of the abrasived erosion even today there are clearly recognizable the cracks and scratches, which visualize the former direction of the ice movement.
Figure 2: Development Striation (Press & Siever 2008)