The magnitude and relative importance of atmosheric (air–ice) and hydrothermal (water–ice) heat fluxes to intact and fragmented river ice covers are studied for the case of a thermal breakup. Based on field measurements obtained from the Liard River, the atmospheric sources are shown to be dominant during the period of intact ice cover. Radiation was the primary heat source, but its effect was reduced by a granulation of the decaying columnar ice which increased the cover albedo to that comparable for melting snow. The hydrothermal heat input, even with frazil ice entrained within the flow, was comparable to that from atmospheric sources under low melt conditions. The hydrothermal heat flux dramatically increased with the arrival of the breakup front because of a rapid rise in water temperature and an increase in subsurface ice roughness. Higher surface roughness and lower albedo of the fragmented ice also increased the atmospheric heat fluxes, but these were small relative to the hydrothermal heat input near the leading edge of open water.Key words: floating ice, ice breakup, ice jams, ice melt.