Internal melt figures in ice by rapid adiabatic compression

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Gagnon, R.E., Tulk, C., Kiefte, H.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1994
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000003890; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000003890

Abstract Single crystals and bicrystals of water ice have been adiabatically pressurized to produce, and clearly illustrate, two types of internal melt figures: (1) dendritic figures that grow from nucleation imperfections on the specimen’s surface, or from air bubbles at grain boundaries, into the ice as pressure is elevated; and (2) compression melt fractures, flat liquid-filled disks, that nucleate at imperfections in the crystal and grow with the application of pressure eventually to sprout dendritic fingers at the periphery. The transparency of the ice permitted visualization of the growth and behavior of the figures, and this could be an important tool in understanding the role of phase transformations in deep-focus earthquakes. Correlation between figure size and pressure is noted for the first time.