Experimental modelling of the growth of tubular ice brinicles from brine flows under sea ice

• Published in: The Cryosphere
• Main Authors: S. Testón-Martínez, L. M. Barge, J. Eichler, C. I. Sainz-Díaz, J. H. E. Cartwright
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2024
• Subjects: Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Geology; QE1-996.5; Sea ice; The Cryosphere
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2195-2024; https://doaj.org/article/8cbfb577aeed453aade8abda81e03aa8

We present laboratory experiments on the growth of a tubular ice structure surrounding a plume of cold brine that descends under gravity into water with a higher freezing point. Brinicles are geological analogues of these structures found under sea ice in the polar regions on Earth. Brinicles are hypothesized to exist in the oceans of other celestial bodies, and being environments rich in minerals, serve a potentially analogous role as an ecosystem on icy-ocean worlds to that of submarine hydrothermal vents on Earth.