Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => The Environment => Topic started by: neilep on 21/12/2007 22:32:07

Title: The Frozen Thames!
Post by: neilep on 21/12/2007 22:32:07: Hi All,

I'm Neil. Nice to meet ewe.

Y'know...it really wasn't all that long ago when the River Thames in London would freeze over and people would have 'Frost Fairs' on there. It was as recent as the late 19th century in fact.

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I'm interested to know if this was not just specific to London but to other major cities with big rivers !....Europe ?...Global ?

Whajafink ?
Title: The Frozen Thames!
Post by: elegantlywasted on 21/12/2007 22:37:37: Every year in Ottawa the Rideau Canal freezes and is used as a skating rink. It is actually alot of fun. For anyone visiting the Ottawa area this time of year it is a must do. It is the World's Largest Ice Rink (Guinness Record)

(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi154.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fs252%2Felegantlywasted_2007%2FSkatingontheRideauCanal.jpg&hash=d8b906829b7c0cc53738a49926a6c8f3)
Title: The Frozen Thames!
Post by: neilep on 21/12/2007 22:52:04: Quote from: elegantlywasted on 21/12/2007 22:37:37
Every year in Ottawa the Rideau Canal freezes and is used as a skating rink. It is actually alot of fun. For anyone visiting the Ottawa area this time of year it is a must do. It is the World's Largest Ice Rink (Guinness Record)

(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi154.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fs252%2Felegantlywasted_2007%2FSkatingontheRideauCanal.jpg&hash=d8b906829b7c0cc53738a49926a6c8f3)

Excellent ...an invitation !!...YAYYYYYYYYYY !!
Title: The Frozen Thames!
Post by: elegantlywasted on 21/12/2007 22:56:08: Ottawa is about an 8 hour drive from me Neil... but you know that my roommates and I would show you a good time [;)]
Title: The Frozen Thames!
Post by: neilep on 21/12/2007 22:57:25: Quote from: elegantlywasted on 21/12/2007 22:56:08
Ottawa is about an 8 hour drive from me Neil... but you know that my roommates and I would show you a good time [;)]

Oh Gawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwd !!!! (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbestsmileys.com%2Fblushing%2F2.gif&hash=33279aea3be3615208248d263a52749c)
Title: The Frozen Thames!
Post by: another_someone on 22/12/2007 00:36:16: Quote from: neilep on 21/12/2007 22:32:07
Y'know...it really wasn't all that long ago when the River Thames in London would freeze over and people would have 'Frost Fairs' on there. It was as recent as the late 19th century in fact.

I would not have regarded 1814 as the late 19^th century.
Title: The Frozen Thames!
Post by: another_someone on 22/12/2007 00:42:30: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Frozen_Danube_Reichsbr%C3%BCcke.JPG
Quote
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fthumb%2F4%2F44%2FFrozen_Danube_Reichsbr%25C3%25BCcke.JPG%2F800px-Frozen_Danube_Reichsbr%25C3%25BCcke.JPG&hash=539e8df91e0039640e2acf092b9e1edd)

The river Danube in Vienna, Austria in early February 2006. On the left-hand side of the picture is Leopoldstadt, to the right in the distance the ORF transmitting tower on the Kahlenberg in Döbling can be made out.

But no fair on the river. Maybe you should suggest it to them (although what Health and Safety concerns might be these days is another matter).
Title: The Frozen Thames!
Post by: opus on 22/12/2007 00:59:13: I saw on tv today that the Thames froze due to a combination of the cold weather and the many arches in London Bridge which slowed the flow of water so allowing ice to form. Now that London bridge now only has a couple of arches, the water flows much faster , preventing the formation of ice.
Title: The Frozen Thames!
Post by: Bored chemist on 22/12/2007 14:33:13: Perhaps we can see if the Thames barrier will slow it down a bit. Seriously I think the Thames is probably heated by a lot of things these days so, even if the weather were as cold, I doubt it would freeze.
Title: The Frozen Thames!
Post by: another_someone on 22/12/2007 14:55:34: I don't actually think the arches would be the main thing to slow down the Thames. The Thames is much deeper and narrower than it used to be, with much of the marshland along the banks having been built up and dried out (as it has for most of the major rivers of Europe, or many of the other major developed nations).
Title: The Frozen Thames!
Post by: opus on 23/12/2007 00:08:43: Yes, it's very probably a number of contributing factors
Title: The Frozen Thames!
Post by: paul.fr on 04/01/2008 08:04:24: There are a few reasons why the thames used to freeze over. At the time we were in a period known as the little ice age, also the thames was wider, shallower, void of enbankments and almost dammed by the piers of the london bridge.