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Why can moving ice ridges scrape the bottom of shallow lakes?
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ice in lakes and rivers
Heat flow through an ice cover (see text).
Moving ice ridges can scrape the bottom of shallow lakes because they possess an underwater draft that is several times their height above the water's surface. When these ridges are pushed across the lake by the wind, this deep underwater portion can make contact with and scour the lakebed in shallower regions.1