Whilst hiking in Adam’s Canyon, Utah this past December, I stumbled upon a beautiful discovery: a river still flowing beneath a thin layer of ice! I was absolutely puzzled by this for the rest of the day. And, at the end of the hike, a further finding only heightened my sense of wonder and puzzlement: a gushing waterfall, fully encapsulated in ice! Of course, I had to find the answer to this frozen river mystery, so my research began!

How Is This Possible?

First, the river water undergoes a phenomenon called “supercooling”. Supercooling occurs when the water temperature falls below freezing. Then ice particles from the air begin to accumulate and grow in the water. Eventually, an ice sheet cover is formed. But often times, slightly above-freezing water will flow beneath the ice cover. Therefore, this will either cause the undersurface of the ice sheet to melt, or it will stop the growth of the ice sheet. Hence, this is how I was able to witness the river flowing underneath lovely, thin ice ceilings!

Why Doesn’t the Whole River Freeze Over?

Deeper, faster flowing streams don’t often freeze completely. In faster flowing streams, at least some water often remains slightly above-freezing. This is because heat must be lost from the water faster than the water is being replaced (or flowing with new water from upstream). This rarely happens because it is unusual for heat loss from the river to exceed the flowing of warmer water from upstream.

Curious for More?

Want to see it in action? Head over to our YouTube Channel to see the video I put together of the waterfall and various parts of the river! Or you can simply watch it here:

References:

https://www.britannica.com/science/lake-ice/Ice-in-rivers

To learn more about the author, Hannah, click here!

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