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Why can anchor ice break loose from a streambed during the day?
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ice in lakes and rivers
Heat flow through an ice cover (see text).
Anchor ice forms on the bottom of shallow streams at night when intense cooling causes frazil ice particles to adhere to the streambed.1
During the day, this ice can break loose due to the warming influence of solar radiation and rising air temperatures. When the water temperature rises slightly above the freezing point, the ice particles become neutral and lose their ability to stick to one another or the bottom, effectively releasing the bond between the anchor ice and the streambed.1