The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1866-03-27
why the Ice Doesn't Go Out.

"Iota" In his easy solution of
the skating park question, seems to have dis |
the laws governing the dissolution
Of ice in rivers, and also to think that the
whole surface of the river was one vast ska
ting park, when, in fact, they were as mere
specks upon It's surface.
do not pretend to be one OF your scisntif-
ic readers, yet / have. upon several ocoe-
sions, observed the ice leave the river in the
spring; and also watched the application of
the forces which tend to weaken and dispense
these extensive icy fields. From the known
thickness of thu ice some seasons and espe-
cialIy the last, one would think the river
would remain closed longer than it does
We wonder that ice so thick and solid should
so suddenly bresk and disappear, but if those
of your readers who are interested will spend
few minutes with me upon the bank OF the
river we may be enabled to solve this strange
problem.
Il has been shown by Agassiz. and other
scientific men, that ice, like glass and air,
possesses the quality of transmitting the
heating rays of the sun to the water below,
or in other words il is good conductor OF
heat. Thus we can see that when the air IS
colder than the water the heat is thrown into
the air from the water, thus rendering the
water cold and preserving the thickness of
20 the degree Of coldness.
But in the spring, when the air is becom-
ing warm, and the suns heat ID transmitted
more directly, the water also becomes warm
ed by the transferred heat. Now, we have
two agencies at work at the same time reduc-
ing the thickness of the ice. For as the ice
retains little if any of the heat from the sun,
it is ouIy acted upon directly by those heated
su distances with which it comes in contact
We thus find that, by the combined action Of
these two forces, air and water. the ice Is
slowly but surely decreasing in thickness. -
Huge piles of ice are scattered along the
shore. These we examine, and find that ice,
which, in mdwinter. measured twenty inch
els in thickness has been reduced to ten or
twelve by the action of the two above named
lateral agencies.
Upon closer inspection we Will alec discov
er that there has been a greater and mors eff
fectnel disintegratiDg agency at work
Strike one of these projecting cakes of ice
and it instantly falls into numerous needle
like pieces, tinkling in it's fsll like tiny bells
The reader, doubtless, has observed when
water is placed in a tin cup upon stove
that rs il becomes warm countless small air
bubbles gather upon the bottom and sides of
the cup rising to the surface as they become
Of sufficient size to detach themselves. Thus
lb Is IN the river, pV EDe aCtlDD OI Inc tTEDs
mitted heat before spoken of, small air-bub-
bIss are disengaged from the water below the
ice These rise by their specific gravity,
pressing against the lower surface of the ice,
and ss the air forming them is VAIN aud
kept so by the continual action of the sun,
they gradually melt their way upward. thus
performing almost every square inch Of the
ice, separating it into delicate irregular cy,
lindrical pieces, having few points of contact
with each other. Thus weakened it il ready,
at the first pressure or uprising of the water.
to break into small oakes, float IF with the
current and rapidly disappear.
! But TO accomplish its most rapid disap.
| penrance certsin conditions are necessary,
! namely: Favorable tenn perature OF the air,
rspidiFy and upward tending of the water,
and thin ice.
All who observed the first movement OF
| the ice this year. will remember that it was
| quite thick and solid AS the previous wealth
| er and snowy condition of the superficial ice
! had not been favorable to the last N entioned
| piercing agency, or in other words the ice
I had not become sufficiently rotten, and conse-
auently is moved in one large compact held.
crowdlpg and heaving huge plea upon the
shores until arriving at the narrow bend In
| the river, below, it gorged and piled IN such
! masses as TO prevent lts passing that point.
/ that condition.
But since that time the ice has become
more rotten. as it is called, and now needs
only the force of rising waters to disengage
| II from the shore and send il 10 it's watery
grave.
Iota says "TIhe ice by artificial means had
| oot large polune." He seems to forget that
by natural means the vast amount of ice
outside of the parks had also got large vol
ume: for while the skating parks were scrap
ed and kept tree from all snow, the
ice outside retained the snow, which, with
the addition of the falling rain. froze upon
it's surface Also that half of the Rock Is
land skating park was broken into pieces be
fore it rachel the point opposite the ARGUS of
| fee.
The fault lies with Rude Boreas, not with
the exciting parks.
With my best wishes for navigation and
skating parks too, remain
| Yours &c,
| GLACIEs.