Ice jam
An ice jam is an accumulation of ice floes that can be caused by ice drifting in the river . The floes tilt against an obstacle in such a way that the ice stands and the further flow of water under the ice is hindered or, in extreme cases, becomes impossible. This leads to flooding upstream , while more and more ice floes are being driven at the ice stagnation. This increases the wall of the ice and the ice jam extends against the direction of the current. The water level in the ice block and above rises. Ice floes are pushed over the banks and threaten the stability of bridges and houses.
Occurrence
In western Siberia along the Ob , ice jams regularly occur because the ice in the waters flowing northward thaws later in the year than further south.
The central Siberian river Lena also becomes a torrential river in the early summer melting period (May / June). The level rises up to 25 meters. Ice accumulations had particularly devastating effects, as a result of which the city of Lensk was devastated in May 2001 and large parts of Yakutsk were under water.
In the extreme winter of 1783/84 , an ice jam occurred on the Rhine during the Rhine flood in 1784 .
See also
Web links
- State main archive RLP: February 7, 1850. All-clear for the ice at Bacharach, Niederheimbach and Rheindiebach. An unusually strong ice jam, which threw the ice floes far over the city walls of Bacharach and cut off entire rows of houses from the outside world, was made worse by a flood that began at the same time.