In-situ observation of grain growth of ice crystallized from NaCl solution

Abstract

Grain growth of ice plays an important role for understanding the mechanism of deformation and flow. In this study, we focused attention on NaCl solution which is a typical impurity in surface water of earth. Polycrystalline ice samples formed at –25 °C or –30 °C were annealed at every 5 °C from –20 °C to –5 °C. In pure water system, no significant grain growth was observed between –25 °C to –15 °C, and noticeable grain growth suggesting abnormal grain growth was observed between –10 °C to –5 °C. In NaCl-H₂O system, grain growth occurred gradually in all temperature range.