Laboratory Experiments on Crystal Orientation in NaCl Ice

Over extensive areas of the Arctic and Antarctic, the c-axes of the grains in a sea-ice sheet develop a preferred orientation in a particular direction in the Horizontal plane, causing the physical and electromagnetic properties of the material to be anisotropic. A number of mechanisms have been proposed for this alignment, the more likely including the tilting of floes, horizontal temperature gradient, horizontal deviatone stresses, and oceanic currents. Laboratory experiments have been performed at the Scott Polar Research Institute to distinguish the effects of these mechanisms on the fabric of sea ice. Ho correlation was found between the development of the preferred orientation of c-axes and any of the first three mechanisms. However, in the presence of a current, the strength of the alignment increases rapidly with depth in the ice, the mean c-axis direction coinciding with the current direction. A significant reduction in alignment was produced when the flow was reduced to zero. In addition, upstream deflection of the columnar axis was observed in flowing brine. These results indicate the importance of fluid motion in controlling the rate of transport of solute from the interface and hence the relative growth rates of grains of different orientations.