Can changes in ice-sheet flow be inferred from crystallographic preferred orientations?

Creep due to ice flow is generally thought to be the main cause for the formation of crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs) in polycrystalline anisotropic ice. However, linking the development of CPOs to the ice flow history requires a proper understanding of the ice aggregate's microstructural response to flow transitions. In this contribution the influence of ice deformation history on the CPO development is investigated by means of full-field numerical simulations at the microscale. We simulate the CPO evolution of polycrystalline ice under combinations of two consecutive deformation events up to high strain, using the code VPFFT/ELLE. A volume of ice is first deformed under co-axial boundary conditions, which results in a CPO. The sample is then subjected to different boundary conditions (co-axial or non-coaxial) in order to observe how the deformation regime switch impacts on the CPO. The model results indicate that the second flow event tends to destroy the first, inherited fabric, with a range of transitional fabrics. However, the transition is slow when crystallographic axes are critically oriented with respect to the second imposed regime. Therefore, interpretations of past deformation events from observed CPOs must be carried out with caution, particularly, in areas with complex deformation histories.

Influence of Liquid Inclusions to Explosive Instability of Ice

The influence of the nuclei of the liquid phase arising during mechanical deformations of polycrystalline ice at temperatures below -40 ... -45 C on its explosive instability is considered. The nucleus of the liquid phase appear in ice when part of the hydrogen bonds are broken when high pressure is applied to ice crystals. The resulting clusters can have characteristics close to those of bulk metastable water. It is known that such water in the region of negative temperatures has anomalous thermodynamic characteristics. In particular, at a temperature of -60 C and a pressure of 100 MPa, there is a second critical point of water for the liquid-liquid transition. It was found that the transition occurs between the two types of water LDL (low density water) and HDL (high density water), with the Widom line coming out into the one-component region of the water phase diagram. This line is the locus of increased fluctuations in entropy and density. Near atmospheric pressure, the temperature on the Widom line is -45 C. If the pressure inside the ice and its temperature turn out to be close to the line of coexistence of LDL and HDL, then liquid inhomogeneities can become a source of mechanical instability of the medium due to the growth of fluctuations in the energy of molecules and destruction of the ice structure. Such conditions can occur at temperatures below -45 C and pressures above 100 MPa.

Dielectric anisotropy as indicator of crystal orientation fabric in Dome Fuji ice core: method and initial results

Polycrystalline ice is known to exhibit macroscopic anisotropy in relative permittivity (ɛ) depending on the crystal orientation fabric (COF). Using a new system designed to measure the tensorial components of ɛ, we investigated the dielectric anisotropy (Δɛ) of a deep ice core sample obtained from Dome Fuji, East Antarctica. This technique permits the continuous nondestructive assessment of the COF in thick ice sections. Measurements of vertical prism sections along the core showed that the Δɛ values in the vertical direction increased with increasing depth, supporting previous findings of c-axis clustering around the vertical direction. Analyses of horizontal disk sections demonstrated that the magnitude of Δɛ in the horizontal plane was 10–15% of that in the vertical plane. In addition, the directions of the principal axes of tensorial ɛ in the horizontal plane corresponded to the long or short axis of the elliptically elongated single-pole maximum COF. The data confirmed that Δɛ in the vertical and horizontal planes adequately indicated the preferred orientations of the c-axes, and that Δɛ can be considered to represent a direct substitute for the normalized COF eigenvalues. This new method could be extremely useful as a means of investigating continuous and depth-dependent variations in COF.

Density of Phonon States in Cubic Ice Ic

The measurement of the H-projected density of phonon states (H-DOPS) of polycrystalline ice Ic has been performed with an unprecedented accuracy, and in a sample having an almost perfect crystallographic purity, as it was obtained from the transformation of ice XVII. Results are compared with new accurate measurements of H-DOPS in ice Ih, and with centroid molecular-dynamics (MD) computations. The differences between the experimental H-DOPS in these two forms of ice are subtle, but quantitatively measurable. In addition, they are reproduced semi-quantitatively by computational methods, demonstrating the effectiveness of this innovative simulation tool for reproducing the dynamical properties of the ice structures.

Density of Phonon States in Cubic Ice Ic

The measurement of the H-projected density of phonon states (H-DOPS) of polycrystalline ice Ic has been performed with an unprecedented accuracy, and in a sample having an almost perfect crystallographic purity, as it was obtained from the transformation of ice XVII. Results are compared with new accurate measurements of H-DOPS in ice Ih, and with centroid molecular-dynamics (MD) computations. The differences between the experimental H-DOPS in these two forms of ice are subtle, but quantitatively measurable. In addition, they are reproduced semi-quantitatively by computational methods, demonstrating the effectiveness of this innovative simulation tool for reproducing the dynamical properties of the ice structures.

The temperature change shortcut: effects of mid-experiment temperature changes on the deformation of polycrystalline ice

It is vital to understand the mechanical properties of flowing ice to model the dynamics of ice sheets and ice shelves and to predict their behaviour in the future. We can increase our understanding of ice physical properties by performing deformation experiments on ice in laboratories and examining its mechanical and microstructural responses. However, natural conditions in ice sheets and ice shelves extend to low temperatures (≪-10 ∘C), and high octahedral strains (> 0.08), and emulating these conditions in laboratory experiments can take an impractically long time. It is possible to accelerate an experiment by running it at a higher temperature in the early stages and then lowering the temperature to meet the target conditions once the tertiary creep stage is reached. This can reduce total experiment run-time by > 1000 h; however it is not known whether this could affect the final strain rate or microstructure of the ice and potentially introduce a bias into the data. We deformed polycrystalline ice samples in uniaxial compression at −2 ∘C before lowering the temperature to either −7 or −10 ∘C, and we compared the results to constant-temperature experiments. Tertiary strain rates adjusted to the change in temperature very quickly (within 3 % of the total experiment run-time), with no significant deviation from strain rates measured in constant-temperature experiments. In experiments with a smaller temperature step (−2 to −7 ∘C) there is no observable difference in the final microstructure between changing-temperature and constant-temperature experiments which could introduce a bias into experimental results. For experiments with a larger temperature step (−2 to −10 ∘C), there are quantifiable differences in the microstructure. These differences are related to different recrystallisation mechanisms active at −10 ∘C, which are not as active when the first stages of the experiment are performed at −2 ∘C. For studies in which the main aim is obtaining tertiary strain rate data, we propose that a mid-experiment temperature change is a viable method for reducing the time taken to run low-stress and low-temperature experiments in the laboratory.

The temperature change shortcut: effects of mid-experiment temperature changes on the deformation of polycrystalline ice

It is vital to understand the mechanical properties of flowing ice to model the dynamics of ice sheets and ice shelves, and to predict their behaviour in the future. We can do this by performing deformation experiments on ice in laboratories, and examining its mechanical and microstructural responses. However, natural conditions in ice sheets and ice shelves extend to low temperatures ( 0.08), and emulating these conditions in laboratory experiments can take an impractically long time. It is possible to accelerate an experiment by running it at a higher temperature in the early stages, and then lowering the temperature to meet the target conditions once the tertiary creep stage is reached. This can reduce total experiment run-time by > 1000 hours, however it is not known if this could affect the final strain rate or microstructure of the ice and potentially introduce a bias into the data. We deformed polycrystalline ice samples in uniaxial compression at −2 °C before lowering the temperature to either −7 °C or −10 °C, and compared the results to constant temperature experiments. Tertiary strain rates adjusted to the change in temperature very quickly (within 3 % of the total experiment run-time), with no significant deviation from strain rates measured in constant-temperature experiments. In experiments with a smaller temperature step (−2 °C to −7 °C) there is no observable difference in the final microstructure between changing-temperature and constant-temperature experiments which could introduce a bias into experimental results. For experiments with a larger temperature step (−2 °C to −10 °C), there are quantifiable differences in the microstructure. These differences are related to different recrystallisation mechanisms active at −10 °C, which are not as active when the first stages of the experiment are performed at −2 °C. For studies in which the main aim is obtaining tertiary strain rate data, we propose that a mid-experiment temperature change is a viable method for reducing the time taken to run low stress and low temperature experiments in the laboratory.