Plastic Faulting in Saltwater Ice

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Authors: Golding, Narayana, Snyder, Scott A, Schulson, Erland M, Renshaw, Carl E
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Dartmouth Digital Commons 2014
• Subjects: ice dynamics; ice physics; ice rheology; sea ice; sea-ice dynamics; Earth Sciences; Glaciology; Physical Sciences and Mathematics; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/facoa/1755; https://doi.org/10.3189/2014JoG13J178; https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/context/facoa/article/2758/viewcontent/j13J178.pdf

Compression experiments on laboratory-grown columnar S2 saltwater ice loaded triaxially through proportional loading at T = –20°C at applied strain rates of ε = 10–5–10–1 s–1 demonstrate that plastic (P) faulting is a mode of failure in saltwater ice when rapidly loaded under a high degree of confinement. In terms of microstructure, mechanical behavior and strength, saltwater ice that fails via P-faulting is almost indistinguishable from columnar S2 freshwater ice that fails via P-faulting loaded under the same conditions. The results also demonstrate that saltwater ice loaded rapidly may exhibit yet another mode of failure, in addition to P-faulting, through what appears to be a mechanism of pore collapse.