ice in lakes and rivers

Introduction
Geographic extent
The seasonal cycle
Ice in lakes
- Ice formation
  - Changes in temperature structure
  - Nucleation of ice crystals
  - Effects of wind mixing
- Ice growth
  - Rates of growth
  - Variations in ice structure
- Ice decay
  - Thinning and rotting
  - Melting
- Geographic distribution
  - Freeze-up
  - Clearing
Ice in rivers
- Formation and growth
  - Ice particles
  - Accumulating ice cover
  - Growth of fixed ice cover
  - Ice buildups
- Decay and ice jams
- Ice modification
  - Mechanical methods
  - Thermal methods
- Geographic distribution

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Heat flow through an ice cover (see text).

Figure 5: Thin section of lake ice, showing the crystal structure of snow ice above the columnar crystal structure of the thickening ice cover.

Quizzes

water glass on white background. (drink; clear; clean water; liquid)

Water and its Varying Forms

Related Questions

How can an ice jam cause flooding upstream?
How can frazil ice block water-intake structures?
How can river water become supercooled below its freezing point?
How can warm-water discharges from power plants affect lake and river ice?
How did the failure of the Lake Missoula ice dam shape the Channeled Scabland in Washington state?
How do hanging dams form beneath an ice cover in deep rivers?
How do ice floes on large lakes freeze together into a continuous cover?
How do snow layers on lake ice affect the rate of ice growth?
How do snowmelt and rain trigger river ice breakup?
How do underground springs keep parts of lakes or rivers free of ice?
How does an accumulating ice cover move upstream in a river?
How does an upstream-moving ice cover raise the water level in a river?
How does anchor ice form on the bottom of streams?
How does fixed ice cover form along river shorelines?
How does ice on a lake grow thicker from below?
How does supercooling lead to the formation of frazil ice in rivers?
How does the timing of river breakup differ from the timing of lake ice clearing?
How does turbulence affect ice formation in rivers?
How does water’s density change below 4 °C cause lakes to freeze from the surface?
How does wind mixing affect the formation of ice crystals on lakes?
What causes an ice jam to form in a river?
What shapes can frazil ice take on the surface of a river?
Why are ice jams common in rivers that flow northward?
Why are spring breakup ice jams usually more destructive than freeze-up ice jams?
Why can a broken ice jam cause damage farther downstream?
Why can a lake freeze and thaw repeatedly before a stable ice cover forms?
Why can anchor ice break loose from a streambed during the day?
Why can ice be thinner over fast-flowing parts of a river?
Why can ice jams form where a river flows into a lake?
Why can icings block culverts and overflow onto roads?
Why can moving ice ridges scrape the bottom of shallow lakes?
Why can wind prevent a large lake from developing a stable ice cover?
Why do ice jams often form where a river slope becomes gentler?
Why do ice jams repeatedly form and break apart in some rivers?
Why do small lakes freeze earlier than rivers?
Why does dense snow conduct heat differently from loose snow?
Why does ice often remain on lakes longer than on rivers in spring?
Why does lake ice clear rapidly after snow melts in spring?
Why does newly formed lake ice sometimes look black and transparent?
Why does river water cool differently from lake water during winter?
Why does surface ice help water beneath a lake remain liquid in winter?
Why is frazil ice usually the first ice to form in a river?

Geography & Travel Physical Geography of Land

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HOW - Lake Ice

ice in lakes and rivers

hydrology

Written by

George D. Ashton

Chief, Research Division, U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hanover, New Hampshire. Author of River Ice and others.

George D. Ashton

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

ice in lakes and rivers, a sheet or stretch of ice forming on the surface of lakes and rivers when the temperature drops below freezing (0° C [32° F]). The nature of the ice formations may be as simple as a floating layer that gradually thickens, or it may be extremely complex, particularly when the water is fast-flowing. Much of the world experiences weather well below the freezing point, and in these regions ice forms...

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