The Creep of NaCl-Doped Ice Monocrystals

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Riley, N. W., Noll, G., Glen, J. W.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1978
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Journal of Glaciology; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000033645; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000033645

Abstract Monocrystals of ice grown from NaCl solutions (concentration 5 X 10 –4 to 10 –2 mol/l) have been tested in creep at —10°C by basal glide. The maximum resolved shear stress ranged from 0.6 to 2.5 bar. The resulting creep curves show a deceleration, that is, the creep rate decreases with time. At the highest concentration the creep is essentially transient; the strain tends to a fixed value. This is unlike the behaviour of similarly orientated monocrystals of pure ice or of ice grown from solutions of other dopants so far reported in the literature. The possible causes for this behaviour are discussed and the implications for the mechanical properties of polycrystalline ice, and in particular sea ice and glacier ice, are described.