Abstract.
Liquid salty micro-channels (brine) between growing ice platelets in sea ice are an important habitat for CO2-binding microalgaea with great impact on polar ecosystems. The structure formation of ice platelets is microscopically described and a phase field model is developed. The pattern formation during solidification of the two-dimensional interstitial liquid is considered by two coupled order parameters, the tetrahedricity as structure of ice and the salinity. The coupling and time evolution of these order parameters are described by a consistent set of three model parameters. They determine the velocity of the freezing process and the structure formation, the phase diagram, the super-cooling and super-heating region, and the specific heat. The model is used to calculate the short-time frozen micro-structures. The obtained morphological structure is compared with the vertical brine pore space obtained from X-ray computed tomography.
Graphical abstract
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
M.G. Worster, J.S. Wettlaufer, J. Phys. Chem. B 101, 6132 (1997)
D.L. Feltham, N. Untersteiner, J.S. Wettlaufer, M.G. Worster, Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, L14501 (2006)
S.F. Ackley, C.W. Sullivan, Deep-Sea Res. I 41, 1583 (1994)
I. Werner, J. Ikävalko, H. Schünemann, Polar Biol. 30, 1493 (2007)
W.A. Tiller, K.A. Jackson, J.W. Rutter, B. Chalmers, N. Y. Acta Metall. 1, 428 (1953)
B. Chalmers, Principles of Solidification (John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1964)
G. Quincke, Proc. R. Soc. London 76, 431 (1905)
K. Binder, Rep. Prog. Phys. 50, 783 (1987)
K.M. Golden, S.F. Ackley, V.I. Lytle, Science 282, 2238 (1998)
K.M. Golden, A.L. Heaton, H. Eicken, V.I. Lytle, Mech. Mater. 38, 801 (2006)
K.M. Golden, H. Eicken, A.L. Heaton, J. Miner, D.J. Pringle, J. Zhu, Geophys. Res. Lett. 34, 16501 (2007)
J.S. Wettlaufer, Europhys. Lett. 19, 337 (1992)
G.F.N. Cox, J. Glaciol. 29, 425 (1983)
G.F.N. Cox, W.F. Weeks, J. Glaciol. 29, 306 (1983)
G.F.N. Cox, J. Geophys. Res. 93, 449 (1988)
D.J. Pringle, J.E. Miner, H. Eicken, K.M. Golden, J. Geophys. Res.: Oceans 114, C12017 (2009)
W.F. Weeks, S.F. Ackley, in The Geophysics of Sea Ice, edited by N. Untersteiner (Plenum Press, New York, 1986) p. 9.
M.O. Jeffries, R.A. Shaw, K. Morris, A.L. Veazey, H.R. Krouse, J. Geophys. Res.: Oceans 99, 985 (1994)
C. Petrich, H. Eicken, in Sea Ice, edited by D.N. Thomas, G.S. Dieckmann (John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 2010) chapt. 2
J. Weissenberger, Environmental Conditions in the Brine Channels of Antarctic Sea Ice, Berichte zur Polarforschung (Alfred-Wegener-Inst. für Polar- und Meeresforschung, 1992)
N.N. Medvedev, Y.I. Naberukhin, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 94, 402 (1987)
M. Bestehorn, Hydrodynamik und Strukturbildung (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2006)
P.C. Hohenberg, B.I. Halperin, Rev. Mod. Phys. 49, 435 (1977)
A.N. Nevzorov, Izv. Atmos. Oceanic Phys. 42, 765 (2006)
N.E. Dorsey, Properties of Ordinary Water-Substance (Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York, 1940)
B. Kutschan, K. Morawetz, S. Gemming, Phys. Rev. E 81, 036106 (2010)
K. Baumann, J.H. Bigram, W. Kanzig, Z. Phys. B 56, 315 (1984)
S. Maus, On Brine Entrapment in Sea Ice: Morphological Stability, Microstructure and Convection (Logos, Berlin, 2007)
A. Bogdan, J. Chem. Phys. 106, 1921 (1997)
D. Eisenberg, W. Kauzmann, The Structure and Properties of Water (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 2005)
S.M. Cox, P.C. Matthews, J. Comput. Phys. 176, 430 (2002)
D.J. Pringle, J.E. Miner, H. Eicken, K.M. Golden, J. Geophys. Res.: Oceans 114, C12017 (2009)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Morawetz, K., Thoms, S. & Kutschan, B. Formation of brine channels in sea ice. Eur. Phys. J. E 40, 25 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2017-11512-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2017-11512-x