Breakup of small rivers in the subarctic

At the end of the winter, the channels of small, subarctic rivers in the coastal James Bay Lowland are filled with snow, river ice, and icing. The major processes associated with the breakup of these rivers include the melting of the snow cover and the resultant generation of meltwater, the impoundment of meltwater runoff by snow dams, the disintegration and ablation of the river ice cover, the formation and dissipation of ice jams, and an …