Water bodies located in the Silesian Upland have a quasi-natural ice regime

en Water bodies located in the Silesian Upland have a quasi-natural ice regime

20.12.2021 - 10:37 update 20.12.2021 - 10:40

Editors: lukaszmalarzewski

The “Frontiers in Earth Science” journal published an article: “Changes in the Thickness of Ice Cover on Water Bodies Subject to Human Pressure (Silesian Upland, Southern Poland)”, by Dr. M. Solarski and Prof. M. Rzętała. Thirty-nine water reservoirs located in the Silesian Upland, which are subject to various anthropopressure influences, were investigated. The aim of the research was to determine to what extent the air temperature and the thickness of the snow cover influenced the thickness of the ice cover during the three winter seasons. In addition, it was determined to what extent the morphometric features of the reservoirs (area, capacity, average depth) as well as the average water temperature and the thickness of snow accumulating on the ice affect the average and maximum thickness of the ice. The research shows that the vast majority of the studied reservoirs (35) are characterized by a quasi-natural ice regime, in which the variation in the thickness of the ice depends primarily on the course of the air temperature and the variation in the thickness of the snow that accumulates on the ice during winter. In the remaining 4 cases, the inflow of warmer underground water from the mines was the element that had a decisive influence on the thickness of the ice.

https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.675216

RDA biplots illustrating relations between environmental variables and selected parameters of lake ice phenology for the water reservoirs in Silesian Upland: I–winter seasons (1–winter season 2009/2010, 2–winter season 2010/2011, 3–winter season 2011/2012); II–studied lakes; III–correlated variables (AWT, average water temperature; AIT, average ice cover thickness; AST, average snow cover thickness; MIT, maximum ice cover thickness; LA, reservoir surface; H, average reservoir depth; V, reservoir volume capacity).

Location of the anthropogenic water bodies studied in the Silesian Upland: 1–province boundaries, 2–macroregion boundaries, 3–mesoregion boundaries, 4–rivers, 5–water bodies studied, 6–meteorological stations, and 7–major towns.

. Ice thickness on the water bodies of the Silesian Upland in the (A) first, (B) second, and (C) third winter season: I–ice thickness, Lp–ordinal number. 1 - the maximum ice thickness values obtained from modelling using the Stefan’s (1891) equation, 2 - statistical parameters.