User:Mrichardsont/sandbox

Assignment #1: Article Evaluation
The article "Ice Shove" has been given the stub-class status meaning that it lacks content and is not up to encyclopedic standards. The article provides a description of ice shoves that is comparable to a dictionary definition. Everything that is present is relevant to the topic. A very surface level description of the source of ice shoves is provided but no detailed description of their formation is described enough for it to be thorough. I noticed that there are very few recent examples of this phenomenon mentioned in the article. The most recent reference is from an incident Minnesota where an ice shove damaged homes along the shore of an icy lake. I would like to look for more recent occurrences to reference in my additions to the article. The article links to Wikipedia articles on icebergs, tsunamis, ocean currents and thunder. All of these separate links to other articles are relevant and add to the description of ice shoves. I found these references to other articles informative and would like to do the same when I add my edits.

The article is written in a neutral, matter of fact tone which is ideal and something I would like to continue as I make my edits to the page. There is so little information written that no one topic is over/under represented. As I research this topic, my goal is to follow the format of that which has already been written because it reads like an informational, unbiased article.

The sources for this article were relevant and worked for the most part. I found that the link to the third source listed was broken. Two of the sources were from scientific journals but the remaining sources were all news stories from 2012-2013 regarding instances of ice shoves causing significant damage along different shorelines. Because there is so little information present in the article, what is there is fully supported by the sources (except what is from source 3 seeing as it is a broken link). Most sources from local news outlets have more room for bias, but this does not appear in the article itself as very little information from these sources were used. I certainly think it would be best to add more information from peer-reviewed scientific journals.

The talk page for this article has very few comments, a majority of which are users asking for more information on the topic and what else could be added to what is already there. All comments present are from 2013-2014 so there has been very little, if any, interaction with this page. The 'Ice Shove' article is a part of the WikiProject Meterology which aims to provide more in-depth information regarding meteorology on Wikipedia. Adding to this article will aide in achieving this goal and improve the quality of information available about this topic.

Assignment #2: Add To An Article
Notes from source Dionne 1979 -

Causes of Ice push/shove include thermal ice expansion, wind action on ice floes/partial ice sheets and changes in water level.

Assignment #3: Draft Your Contributions
An ice shove (also known as an ice surge, ice push, ice heave, shoreline ice pileup, ice piling, ice thrust, ice ride-up, or ivu in Inupiat ) is a surge of ice from an ocean or large lake onto the shore, resulting in piles of ice and debris up to 12 metres (40 feet) high. Ice shoves can be caused by temperature fluctuations, wind action, or changing water levels and can cause devastation to coastal Arctic communities. Climate change will also play a role in the formation and frequency of ice shove events; a rise in global temperatures leads to more open water to facilitate ice movement and low pressure systems to destabilize ice sheets and send them shoreward.

Temperature fluctuations
When temperatures decrease, ice contracts and forms stress fractures; water then seeps into these tension cracks and freezes. When temperatures rise, the ice sheet expands. This sequence of events occurs cyclically until the total ice sheet has expanded considerably. If this ice sheet is in contact with a shoreline, it can exert considerable force on the land, causing the displacement of shore material. When temperature fluctuations are drastic enough, the ice sheet contraction pulls far enough from shore to form a lane of water; for example, a drop from 0°C to -20°C results in an 11% volume decrease of a 1.5-km ice sheet. This lane of water subsequently freezes. When temperatures rise at sufficient rates (~1°C/hr for upwards of 5 hours), the ice sheet expands onto land. The physical composition of the ice itself is also important; ice that has formed from water-soaked snow, known as white ice, hinders the process of thermal ice expansion because its albedo is higher than other forms of ice, resulting in lower thermal conductivity. In order for conditions to facilitate thermal expansion of ice and in turn ice shoves, the ice needs to be susceptible to temperature change, making black ice more suitable for the formation of ice shoves.

Wind action
Because land heats faster than ice and transfers heat to the adjacent ice, the ice nearest to the shore melts first when temperatures rise. Water then exists between the ice sheet and the shoreline, facilitating the movement of ice sheets when wind acts on them. An open channel of water allows for reduced resistive forces on the ice sheet, increasing the likelihood that an ice shove event can occur. The direction of the wind ultimately directs the motion of the ice shove. The effectiveness of wind as a driving force for ice movement relies on a multitude of factors including the size and shape of the body of water and wind strength. Large, wide-open bodies of water have a greater surface area for wind to act upon compared to smaller, sheltered bodies of water. Persistent, high-speed winds apply more force than slower wind gusts, making them optimal for driving ice sheets ashore.

Fluctuating water levels

Falling water levels cause a bending force between ice that has already breached the shore and the ice floating immediately offshore. This bending force causes cracks in the ice where water can seep in and freeze. When water levels rise again, the ice experiences compression forces that subsequently push it onto land. This mechanism is comparable to the thermal expansion process described above.

Effects on Arctic communities
Arctic communities can be affected by ice shoves. Ice shoves commonly occur along the Chukchi Sea including in Wainwright, Alaska and Barrow, Alaska. Studies have shown that the formation of landfast ice is starting to form later and breakup earlier in the Chukchi and Beaufort sea s. More open water days increase the likelihood of destructive coastal events like ice shoves in these regions. Witnesses have described the shove's sound as being like that of a train or thunder. Some have described them as 'ice tsunamis'. Ice shoves can damage coastal buildings and ecosystems.

Climate change
One particular ice shove event, located at Cape Espenberg, Alaska during the winter of 2016, was the culmination of the forcing caused by a low pressure system that destabilized the landfast ice near the shore and a significant temperature fluctuation from$$-23^\circ   $$ to $$3^\circ C$$. The frequency of significant enough temperature fluctuations to induce thermal expansion of ice as well as low pressure systems that bring with them destabilizing winds is thought to increase if the planet continues to warm as it is currently.