Observation of high sediment concentrations entrained in jumble river ice
Abstract Ice formation is generally considered to exclude many particles and most solutes and thus be relatively pure compared to ambient waters. Because river ice forms by a combination of thermal and mechanical processes, some level of sediment entrainment in the ice column is likely, though repor...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rra.4309 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/rra.4309 |
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crwiley:10.1002/rra.4309 2024-10-13T14:08:48+00:00 Observation of high sediment concentrations entrained in jumble river ice Arp, Christopher D. Bondurant, Allen C. Clement, Sarah Eidam, Emily Langhorst, Ted Pavelsky, Tamlin M. Davis, Julianne Spellman, Katie V. National Science Foundation 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rra.4309 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/rra.4309 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ River Research and Applications volume 40, issue 8, page 1560-1570 ISSN 1535-1459 1535-1467 journal-article 2024 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4309 2024-10-03T04:04:56Z Abstract Ice formation is generally considered to exclude many particles and most solutes and thus be relatively pure compared to ambient waters. Because river ice forms by a combination of thermal and mechanical processes, some level of sediment entrainment in the ice column is likely, though reports of sediment in river ice are limited. We observed high and sporadic levels of silt and sand in ice of the Kuskokwim and Tanana rivers (Alaska, the United States) during routine field studies. These observations led us to make a more comprehensive survey of sediment entrainment in river ice of the Kuskokwim and Yukon rivers and several of their tributaries. We collected and subsampled 48 ice cores from 19 different river locations in March 2023, which included concurrent measurements of water turbidity, velocity, and depth. Approximately 60% of cores contained detectable levels of sediment, averaging 438 mg/L with median concentrations exceeding 1000 mg/L in three cores from the Yukon and Kuskokwim main stems. Many cores had even higher concentrations at certain intervals, with seven cores having subsamples exceeding 2000 mg/L; these were often located in the middle or lower portion of the ice column. Jumble ice, formed mechanically by frazil‐pan jamming during freeze‐up, was generally the best predictor of higher sediment entrainment, and these locations often had higher under‐ice velocities and depths. Our observation of high and widespread sediment entrainment in northern river ice, particularly in jumble‐ice fields, may have implications for sediment transport regimes, ice strength and transportation safety, and how rivers break up in the springtime. Article in Journal/Newspaper Kuskokwim Alaska Yukon Wiley Online Library Yukon River Research and Applications |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
description |
Abstract Ice formation is generally considered to exclude many particles and most solutes and thus be relatively pure compared to ambient waters. Because river ice forms by a combination of thermal and mechanical processes, some level of sediment entrainment in the ice column is likely, though reports of sediment in river ice are limited. We observed high and sporadic levels of silt and sand in ice of the Kuskokwim and Tanana rivers (Alaska, the United States) during routine field studies. These observations led us to make a more comprehensive survey of sediment entrainment in river ice of the Kuskokwim and Yukon rivers and several of their tributaries. We collected and subsampled 48 ice cores from 19 different river locations in March 2023, which included concurrent measurements of water turbidity, velocity, and depth. Approximately 60% of cores contained detectable levels of sediment, averaging 438 mg/L with median concentrations exceeding 1000 mg/L in three cores from the Yukon and Kuskokwim main stems. Many cores had even higher concentrations at certain intervals, with seven cores having subsamples exceeding 2000 mg/L; these were often located in the middle or lower portion of the ice column. Jumble ice, formed mechanically by frazil‐pan jamming during freeze‐up, was generally the best predictor of higher sediment entrainment, and these locations often had higher under‐ice velocities and depths. Our observation of high and widespread sediment entrainment in northern river ice, particularly in jumble‐ice fields, may have implications for sediment transport regimes, ice strength and transportation safety, and how rivers break up in the springtime. |
author2 |
National Science Foundation |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Arp, Christopher D. Bondurant, Allen C. Clement, Sarah Eidam, Emily Langhorst, Ted Pavelsky, Tamlin M. Davis, Julianne Spellman, Katie V. |
spellingShingle |
Arp, Christopher D. Bondurant, Allen C. Clement, Sarah Eidam, Emily Langhorst, Ted Pavelsky, Tamlin M. Davis, Julianne Spellman, Katie V. Observation of high sediment concentrations entrained in jumble river ice |
author_facet |
Arp, Christopher D. Bondurant, Allen C. Clement, Sarah Eidam, Emily Langhorst, Ted Pavelsky, Tamlin M. Davis, Julianne Spellman, Katie V. |
author_sort |
Arp, Christopher D. |
title |
Observation of high sediment concentrations entrained in jumble river ice |
title_short |
Observation of high sediment concentrations entrained in jumble river ice |
title_full |
Observation of high sediment concentrations entrained in jumble river ice |
title_fullStr |
Observation of high sediment concentrations entrained in jumble river ice |
title_full_unstemmed |
Observation of high sediment concentrations entrained in jumble river ice |
title_sort |
observation of high sediment concentrations entrained in jumble river ice |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rra.4309 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/rra.4309 |
geographic |
Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Yukon |
genre |
Kuskokwim Alaska Yukon |
genre_facet |
Kuskokwim Alaska Yukon |
op_source |
River Research and Applications volume 40, issue 8, page 1560-1570 ISSN 1535-1459 1535-1467 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4309 |
container_title |
River Research and Applications |
_version_ |
1812815568430956544 |