The consequence of the icy deluge, displaying splintered trees and fragments of ice scattered all over the region.(Image credit: Derek Cronmiller)
A mountainside failure into a waterway situated in Canada’s Yukon region this past December unleashed a surge of ice fragments soaring more than two football field lengths, snapping trees apart in its path.
Currently, fresh inquiries intimate that the devastation from this “ice deluge” was intensified by the detrimental power of the frozen river. Nevertheless, the impact was also confined to a smaller footprint than what could have transpired if the breakdown had occurred in the summer, yielding an ice-free surge.
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The ice surge transpired on Dec. 17, 2024, as a precipitous incline above the Takhini River gave way abruptly. An estimated 4.1 million cubic feet (118,000 cubic meters) of earth and boulders plunged into the watercourse, which was then enveloped in ice. This impact generated an ice-laden tidal surge sweeping across 17.8 acres (7.2 hectares) encompassing the waterway and its embankments. Fractures in the river ice stretched up to 820 feet (250 m) distant, and ice fragments exceeding 43 square feet (4 square m) were detected 656 feet (200 m) away from the breakage.
This frigid undulation stripped the plant life from the banks, leaving untouched solely the four largest trees along the shore situated opposite to the landslide. On that embankment, the sole survivors were trees exhibiting trunk circumferences exceeding 11.8 inches (30 centimeters).
The ice tidal wave razed all except the four largest trees along the shoreline opposing the downslope slide.
Certain segments of the frozen water got turned upside down, having approximately 4 inches to a foot (10 to 30 cm) of alluvial deposit affixed. These segments had been strongly congealed to the bottom of the watercourse, Cronmiller noted, and the energy of the wave wrested the streambed along.
Groundshifts are frequently precipitated by snow thawing, precipitation, or the actions of humankind, although Cronmiller could not find substantiation of an outside cause for the December 17 occurrence. On the contrary, the slope encountered a “fragile fracture,” implying it split apart bereft of precursory distortion or deformation.
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Mercifully, no one was wounded during the episode, which developed 15.5 miles (25 km) northwest of Whitehorse, Yukon, throughout a rustic location. Nevertheless, the river serves as a site for various open-air undertakings. Dog sled racers along with snowmobile riders traverse it in winter months, as summertime perceives river rafters navigating the Takhini.
The landslip constricted the stream’s expanse by half while encumbering it with rubble, potentially imperiling boaters in years ahead, according to Cronmiller. The freshly released analysis ascertained that it shall presumably demand over ten years before the Takhini River successfully sculpts a passage cutting through the residual wreckage.
Stephanie PappasSocial Links NavigationLive Science Contributor
Stephanie Pappas functions as a contributing author for Live Science, managing subjects varying from the earth sciences to the field of archaeology, up to the workings of the human mind and conduct. Once a senior contributing writer for Live Science, she now practices freelancing located inside Denver, Colorado, regularly lending material for Scientific American along with The Monitor, the regular journal offered by the American Psychological Association. Stephanie obtained a bachelor’s degree centered around psychology coming from the University of South Carolina accompanied by a post graduate certificate specialized in science communication via the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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