A river is not just a watercourse, rushing from mountains and hills into the seas and oceans. This is a rather complex ecosystem, a kind of "organism", which has its own characteristics and modes. This article will focus on the temperature and ice regimes of rivers.
What is freezing? You will find a definition of this, as well as some other geographical terms in our article. When and why are rivers covered with ice shell? And what phases of the ice regime do scientists distinguish?
Ice regime of the river and its phases. What is freezing?
The definition of a concept is important for the comprehensive 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 interconnected components.
Zabereg, fat, snow, sludge - all these outlandish 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, a definition should be given: what is freezing?
In the ice regime of natural watercourses, three phases are distinguished:
1) Freezing.
2) Freeze up.
3) Autopsy.
Let us consider in more detail the second of these phases.
What is freezing: geography definition
In late autumn, the water in the rivers becomes black and black, very dense and viscous. Soon there are shores - very thin ice at the coastal edge. So begins the freezing-up - the winter phase of the temperature regime of any watercourse flowing in the temperate climate zone.
What is freezing? There are several definitions of this concept. First of all, it is the presence of a solid ice shell on a river or lake. Secondly, this is the process of forming such a shield. Thirdly, this is the time period during which a continuous and motionless ice cover is observed on a river or reservoir.
The phenomenon of ice formation is characterized by several parameters and characteristics, in particular:
- power (ice thickness);
- duration
- ice cover structure.
All these parameters, in turn, depend on many natural and climatic factors: the climatic zone, the duration of the winter season, remoteness from the ocean, topography, wind regime, etc. Thus, ice blocks small rivers with a small current much faster. But on stormy mountain streams, ice formation in winter may not form at all.
Ledostav and its stages
As noted above, it all starts with the occurrence of zaberez. Along the banks of the river, as a rule, shallow depth. In this regard, ice begins to form there earlier. As a rule, this happens when the average daily air temperature drops below zero Celsius.
The next stage of ice formation is the formation of thin translucent ice floes on water. Hydrologists gave them a specific name - fat. If heavy snowfall begins, snow flakes can fall on supercooled water and not melt, gradually turning into a porridge-like mass - snowmeal.
Snezhura, mixing with fat, forms massive and loose clods called sludge. A few frosty days will pass, and the sludge will turn into a solid ice shell, which will hide the river bed until spring.
In the temperate zone of Russia, ice formation on rivers begins in November and is finally formed until mid-December. However, in large cities, it may not form, due to the warm industrial and municipal drains into rivers and reservoirs.