Effect of Porosity on the Hydrostatic Compression of Ice

• Main Authors: Gow,Anthony J., Sheehy,William
• Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER N H
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1975
• Subjects: Snow; Ice and Permafrost; *Ice; *Porosity; *Compression; Hydrostatic pressure; Ice islands; Plastic deformation; Antarctic Regions; Glaciers; *Ice cores; Antarctic; Antarc*; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA017302; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA017302

A cathetometer was used in conjunction with a window-equipped pressure chamber to measure linear deformation in porous polycrystalline ice samples compressed hydrostatically at pressures of up to 0.31 kb. Tests show that a porosity as little as 1% can increase the compressibility of ice four- or fivefold. However, the compression is of a substantially nonelastic nature, since very little recovery (expansion) occurs during and following pressure release. Pore closure, which is virtually complete at the higher pressures, can be attributed to a combination of plastic and cataclastic deformation of ice in the walls of the pores.