Constitutive Equations for Polycrystalline Ice

Abstract

The phase of H₂O ice which exists at pressure and temperature conditions encountered in ice sheets and glaciers is called ice Ih. It forms hexagonal crystals, that is, the water molecules are arranged in layers of hexagonal rings (Fig. 4.1). The plane of such a layer is called the basal plane, which actually consists of two planes shifted slightly (by 0.0923 nm) against each other. The direction perpendicular to the basal planes is the optic axis or c-axis, and the distance between two adjacent basal planes is 0.276 nm.