Dimesional Changes of Ice Ih with Time

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Author: Camp, Paul R.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1978
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000033906; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000033906

Abstract Two different types of experiment were reported. Both used a pure single crystal of ice freshly grown in the laboratory at 2 mm per hour. Direct volumetric measurements were made by submerging an ice crystal (volume 143 cm 3 ) in mercury in a sealed steel container and electronically monitoring the height of the mercury in a manometer tube connected to it. Measurements over a 60 d period at —4.0°C showed a small gradual decrease in apparent volume. This could be due to the adsorption of perhaps 10 -2 cm 3 of air trapped by the mercury at the surface of the ice. The total un-certainties of the experiment are such that we believe we would have observed a volume dilation of as little as 2.5 × 10 -6 per day. Direct measurements were also made of the change in length of ice samples from the same crystal. One was cut with length parallel to c and the other perpendicular to c . Over a 28 d period, the fractional change in length at —13.7°C was less than 2 × 10 -7 per day and less than 7 × 10 -8 per day ║ c , leading to an upper bound on volume change of 7 × 10 -7 per day. We conclude that if dilation of ice occurs with time, it is less than 10 -6 per day and therefore probably not a factor which needs consideration in ordinary experiments.