What is ice age: the definition of the concept and its main features

The river is not just a stream flowing from mountains and hills to the seas and oceans. This is a rather complex ecosystem, a kind of "organism", which has its own features and regimes. In this article we will talk about the temperature and ice regimes of rivers.

What is a freeze? The definition of this, as well as some other geographical terms, you will find in our article. When and why do the rivers become covered with an ice shell? And what phases of the ice regime are scientists singling out?

Ice regime of the river and its phases. What is a freeze?

The definition of a particular concept is important for the integrated study and rational use of natural resources. In this case, the object of our interest is the river - a complex system consisting of a whole complex of interrelated components.

Save, bacon, snowball, sludge - all these strange words are forms of ice formation, and they are directly related to the ice regime of the river. We will talk about them further. And first of all, it is necessary to define: what is a freeze?

In the ice regime of natural watercourses three phases are distinguished:

1) Freezing.

2) Ledostav.

3) Autopsy.

Let us consider in more detail the second of these phases.

What is a freeze-bed: a definition of geography

In late autumn the water in the rivers becomes black-black, very dense and viscous. Soon they appear to be saved - very thin ice near the coastal edge. This is the beginning of the freezing - the winter phase of the temperature regime of any watercourse flowing in the temperate climatic zone.

What is a freeze? There are several definitions of this concept. First of all, this is the presence of a solid ice shell on the river or lake. Secondly, this is the process of forming such a shield. Thirdly, this is the time period during which a continuous and fixed ice cover is observed on the river or water body.

The phenomenon of freeze-up is characterized by several parameters and characteristics, in particular:

• Thickness (thickness of ice);
• Duration;
• Structure of the ice cover.

All these parameters, in turn, depend on a variety of natural and climatic factors: the climatic zone, the duration of the winter season, the distance from the ocean, the relief, the wind regime, etc. Thus, small rivers with a small current of ice binds much faster. But on the rough mountain streams, the ice in winter can not be formed at all.

Ledostav and its stages

As already noted above, everything begins with the appearance of the coasts. Near the river banks, as a rule, a smaller depth. In connection with this, ice begins to form there before. Typically, this happens when the average daily air temperature drops below zero Celsius.

The next stage of ice-making is the formation of thin translucent ice floes on the water. Hydrologists gave them a specific name - bacon. If heavy snow begins, snow flakes can fall on the supercooled water and not melt, gradually turning into a mushy mass - snowball.

The snake, mixing with bacon, forms massive and loose clumps, called sludge. A few more frosty days will pass, and the sludge will turn into a solid ice shell that will cover the riverbed until the spring.

In the temperate zone of Russia, the ice sheet on the rivers begins in November and is finally formed until the middle of December. However, in large cities it may not be formed, due to warm industrial and communal drains into rivers and water bodies.