What is the freeze on the river and how does it pass

In the old days in Russia, the fall came to an end, and the frosty winter began, judging by the way the rivers froze. What was the freeze was known to everyone - this is the time when the ice on the river stopped and covered the entire surface of the reservoir with a thick white crust, from shore to shore.

How to Start a Freeze

In the late fall (usually at the end of October or in the middle of November), the cooled water in the river becomes dark, almost black, and along the shore, where there are the smallest places, thin ice plates appear. They look as if they accidentally clung to the shore. Such ice is called "save". And it serves as a sure sign - the time of freeze-up began.

Now it was already possible to wait for small flat ice floes to float on the surface of the river, which stand out clearly on the dark background of the river. They are somewhat like frozen fat on the surface of cooled soup, for which they are sometimes called: "ice bacon".

What is a freeze-up, you can understand by seeing how the sludge forms ice floes

And when the thick wet snow goes, its flakes will not even melt in the water. They will now swim along with the current, making the river look like a thick porridge in places. By the way, this porridge also has its name - "snowball".

The ice fat gradually coalesces with the snowball and turns into loose lumps of ice impregnated with water. This in-water ice - sludge - is located not only on the surface, but falls already into the very water column, sometimes forming whole carpets and wreaths.

In a couple of days the sludge will freeze and form ice floes. At this time you can see the autumn ice drift.

But these ice floes, unlike the spring flakes, do not melt, but become thicker and larger. Frost grasps them, connecting them with the coasts. At this time, just the motion of ice stops, which means that the freeze on the river has finally taken shape. The stream of the river stops - it is tightened by a thick ice crust.

Ledostav happens not on all rivers

If the freezing weather is promoted by quiet frosty weather, then the ice turns out to be almost uniform thickness and grows from the coast. And if, for the time of freezing, a strong wind falls, then in the open spaces of large rivers or lakes, it can stay for a long time - strong waves break and carry the fragile first ice, preventing it from growing and becoming stronger.

By the way, the wind can bring such ice to the lee shore, where, in severe frost, fragile ice floes turn into a solid, thick edge, which fishermen later will fancy - it is convenient for winter fishing.

As we said at the beginning of the article, the time when the river freezes has always been considered the beginning of winter. But nowadays in cities, due to the fact that warm flows of industrial enterprises are being let down into the rivers, one can never know what a freeze is. After all, in cities the rivers either freeze very late, or they do not freeze during the whole winter.

Together with freezing on rivers, or rather in places where fast flow pours into a stream with a slow flow or where there is a reverse current behind the capes, one can observe the appearance of ice hummocks. They form accumulating ice. And sometimes (especially in the northern regions of the country) hummocks can reach a height of up to three meters.

What are polynyas and lanes

Most of the rivers in Russia can demonstrate what a freeze is, but sometimes on areas covered with solid ice, you can see areas where it is completely absent. Such places are called "polynyas" or "lanes". They are formed either where there is warm groundwater, or in places where the river flows out of the lake, getting warmer lake water.

Sometimes such polynyas can be quite impressive. For example, on the river Yemtsa, which is a tributary of Onega, the space of 100 km does not freeze, despite the fact that the winter in those places is very severe.

Nonfreezing areas are formed also in places where the river has a strong current or rapids and rapids. Most often, this can be observed on the rivers of Karelia and on the mountain rivers in Siberia.