Ice Tsunami Comes Crashing In

Ice tsunami in the extreme north of Russia means summer is to finish here. This video shows ice is dramatically moving and climbing ups the shore, with large chunks of the heavy floe crashing over the sand and rocks. Several residents of Dudinka still dressed in their warm clothes, retreat as they realize just how powerful the might of Yenisei is breaking its ice shield. Krasnoyarsk Ministry of Emergencies said that the video showed the first stage of the ice breaking, and that the river will get clear within about a week from the moment this footage was filmed.Show more

When the ice crawls up out of the water and goes on a murderous rampage beside your house and family. Maybe the ice isn’t actively seeking demolition and mayhem when it comes on land in a phenomenon known as an ice shove. Ice shoves occur when solid winds or currents force the ice from the water’s surface to go on land. These events are also termed “ice tsunamis” because of the way they come on land, but ice shoves are closer to icebergs than tsunamis in how they work. The force from the ice shove can be powerful sufficient to knock over trees, houses, and docks that stand in its way.

Ice shoves occur when strong winds or currents force the ice from the water's surface to go on land or temperature differences pushing ice onto the shore, creating piles up to 12 meters (40 feet) high. About 80% of tsunamis occur within the Pacific Ocean's “Ring of Fire.” The first wave of a tsunami is generally not the strongest, successive waves get bigger and stronger. Tsunamis can travel at speeds of about 450 miles or 785 kilometers an hour, almost as fast as a jet plane. Witnesses have defined the shove's sound as being like that of a train or thunder.

Ocean water freezes just like freshwater, but at lesser temperatures. Fresh water freezes at 31 degrees Fahrenheit but seawater freezes at about 28.5 degrees Fahrenheit, because of the salt in it. At least 14 percent of the ocean is covered by sea ice some part of the year. Water is an unusual substance. When water freezes, it gets less dense. That is why ice dices float in a glass of water. It also takes a lot of energy removal to freeze water, and the air is typically much colder than the earth at the bottom of the lake. So a lot of things root the lake to freeze only on top.