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An ice bridge is a frozen natural structure formed over seas, bays, C. Michael Hogan, ''Prehistory of the Alby People, Öland, Sweden'', Lumina Technologies, July 9, 2006
In Jules Verne's 1873 novel '' The Fur Country'', a group of fur trappers establishes a fort on what they think is stable ground, only to find later on that is merely an iceberg temporarily attached by an ice bridge to the mainland.
An ice bridge is a frozen natural structure formed over seas, bays, river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
s or lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
surfaces. They facilitate migration of animals or people over a water body that was previously uncrossable by terrestrial animals, including human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...
s. The most significant ice bridges are formed by glaciation, spanning distances of many miles over sometimes relatively deep water bodies.
An example of such a major ice bridge was that connecting the island of Öland
Öland (, ; ; sometimes written ''Øland'' in other Scandinavian languages, and often ''Oland'' internationally; la, Oelandia) is the second-largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area ...
with mainland Sweden approximately 9000 BC. This bridge reached its maximum utility when the glacier
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...
was in retreat, forming a low-lying frozen bridge. The Öland ice bridge allowed the first human migration to the island of Öland, which is most readily documented by archaeological studies of the Alby People.In Jules Verne's 1873 novel '' The Fur Country'', a group of fur trappers establishes a fort on what they think is stable ground, only to find later on that is merely an iceberg temporarily attached by an ice bridge to the mainland.
See also
*Ice road
An ice road or ice bridge is a human-made structure that runs on a frozen water surface (a river, a lake or a sea water expanse).Masterson, D. and Løset, S., 2011, ISO 19906: Bearing capacity of ice and ice roads, Proceedings of the 21st Inte ...
* Land bridge
In biogeography, a land bridge is an isthmus or wider land connection between otherwise separate areas, over which animals and plants are able to cross and colonize new lands. A land bridge can be created by marine regression, in which sea leve ...
References
{{ice Human migration Glaciers Bodies of ice