| Title | Chapter 10. ‘An Ice Breakup as in the Good Old Days’. Ice Jams in the Aura River, Turku, Southwest Finland, 1739–2024 |
|---|---|
| Contributor | Stefan Norrgård(author) |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.63308/63881023874820.ch10 |
| Landing page | https://www.whpress.co.uk/publications/2025/05/02/nordicclimatehistories/ |
| License | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.en |
| Copyright | Stefan Norrgård |
| Publisher | The White Horse Press |
| Published on | 2025-08-15 |
| Long abstract | This study investigates the historical occurrence and impact of ice jams in the Aura River, Turku, Finland, from 1739 to 2025. Ice jams, which are common in regions with prolonged river ice cover, can cause significant water level rises and subsequent flooding. The study analyses historical documents, including newspaper articles and weather journals, to reconstruct past ice jam events and their effects. Key findings highlight the role of natural and anthropogenic ob- stacles, such as bridges and skating rinks, in initiating ice jams. The study further examines the methods employed to mitigate these events. An ice jam index is developed to categorise the severity of events over time. The results indicate a clear change towards fewer severe ice jam events in the twentieth century. This research contributes to understanding hydrological extremes and their historical context in Finnish rivers. |
| Page range | pp. 237–257 |
| Print length | 21 pages |
| Language | English (Original) |
| Media | 5 illustrations |
Stefan Norrgård is a senior researcher and climate historian at the Department of History at Åbo Akademi University in Turku, Finland. Subsequent to reconstruct- ing climate in West Africa during the 1700s, his research interests have centred on riverine ice breakups in Finland. He has reconstructed spring ice breakups for both the Aura River (Turku) and the Kokemäki River (Pori) between the 1700s and 2000s. He has several publications on ice breakups but his research field also covers historical climate adaptation processes and meteorological observations in Finland and Sweden in the 1700s. His ongoing research project, founded by the Kone Foundation, investigates climate, culture and society in Finland in the 1700s.