Crystal alignment in sea ice ...

• Main Author: Langhorne, Pat
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository 1982
• Subjects: Scott Polar Research Institute; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17863/cam.39796; https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/292640

The c-axes of grains in a sheet of sea ice not only lie in the plane perpendicular to the direction of heat flow but also may align about a particular axis in that plane. It has been suggested that the existence of horizontal temperature gradients or the current at the ice-water interface are likely driving forces for this ordering. In addition to making relevant field observations ,we have carried out experiments to discover which factor exerts the greatest influence on the resulting distribution of c-axes. Apparatus to grow NaCl ice in the presence of a water current has been constructed in the cold room at the Scott Polar Research Institute. Two lengthy experiments have been performed in saline water (34%,), one with a current of 3cms$^-1$ beneath the growing ice and a corresponding "null" experiment in which there was no forced flow. Two similar experiments were carried out with brackish water (20%). The growth rate of the ice and the shape of the ice-water interface at the completion of the experiment ...