Chloride Segregation Along Grain Boundaries in Ice

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Prodi, F., Nagamoto, C.T.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1971
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Journal of Glaciology; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000013265; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000013265

Abstract A new technique for precisely detecting chlorides in ice has been developed. It is based on a microchemical contact reaction which takes place when a thin surface layer of ice melts through a membrane filter previously soaked in a concentrated solution of silver nitrate and dried. The silver chloride thus formed is reduced to metallic silver under ultra-violet light. The results on natural hailstones and laboratory doped ice show that foreign molecules are mainly segregated along the grain boundaries rather than being captured in the ice lattice. The technique, which makes quantitative evaluations possible, appears promising in all experimental studies on natural ice (hailstones and sea ice) and on ice artificially grown in the laboratory (by accretion or by freezing of solutions).