The role of waves in ice-jam flooding of the Peace-Athabasca Delta.

This article discusses the mechanisms that lead to breakup of the ice cover and jamming within the delta reach of Peace River-Athabasca Delta region in Canada. According to the authors, the extremely flat lower Peace River does not generally allow long period waves caused by spring snowmelt to dislodge the winter ice cover. However, major ice jams do occur on occasion form in the middle section of the river and move to the delta via repeated stalls and releases. The releases cause steep waves which amplify the hydrodynamic forces acting on the ice cover and cause it to become dislodged.