Laboratory Experiments with Aqueous Solutions Modelling Magma Chamber Processes. I. Discussion of Their Validity and Geological Application

Stephen, Ralph A.; Sparks, J.; Huppert, Herbert E.

doi:10.1007/978-94-017-2509-5_17

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…This is consistent with the amplification of impurity entrainment in fractures with a normal vector perpendicular to gravity (90° deviation) and epitomized by the complete retention of impurities in the floors of lenses, whose normal vector is antiparallel to gravity (180° deviation). This is additionally supported by empirical observations of chemical zonation patterns in mushy layers grown at variable geometries (Bédard et al, 1992;Hebditch & Hunt, 1974;Huppert, 1990;Leitch, 1987;Stephen et al, 1987). We note the specification of "potential" impurity entrainment, as we have also shown that for shallow fractures (∼meters to tens of meters) the increase in efficiency of gravity drainage due to the horizontal freezing geometry results in lower impurity retention than in the ice formed via top-down solidification subject to the same thermal forcing.…”

Section: Fracturessupporting

confidence: 78%

Geometry of Freezing Impacts Ice Composition: Implications for Icy Satellites

et al. 2023

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Non‐ice impurities within the ice shells of ocean worlds (e.g., Europa, Enceladus, Titan, Ganymede) are believed to play a fundamental role in their geophysics and habitability and may become a surface expression of subsurface ocean properties. Heterogeneous entrainment and distribution of impurities within planetary ice shells have been proposed as mechanisms that can drive ice shell overturns, generate diverse geological features, and facilitate ocean‐surface material transport critical for maintaining a habitable subsurface ocean. However, current models of ice shell composition suggest that impurity rejection at the ice‐ocean interface of thick contemporary ice shells will be exceptionally efficient, resulting in relatively pure, homogeneous ice. As such, additional mechanisms capable of facilitating enhanced and heterogeneous impurity entrainment are needed to reconcile the observed physicochemical diversity of planetary ice shells. Here we investigate the potential for hydrologic features within planetary ice shells (sills and basal fractures), and the unique freezing geometries they promote, to provide such a mechanism. By simulating the two‐dimensional thermal and physicochemical evolution of these hydrological features as they solidify, we demonstrate that bottom‐up solidification at sill floors and horizontal solidification at fracture walls generate distinct ice compositions and provide mechanisms for both enhanced and heterogeneous impurity entrainment. We compare our results with magmatic and metallurgic analogs that exhibit similar micro‐ and macroscale chemical zonation patterns during solidification. Our results suggest variations in ice‐ocean/brine interface geometry could play a fundamental role in introducing compositional heterogeneities into planetary ice shells and cryoconcentrating impurities in (re)frozen hydrologic features.

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Section: Fracturessupporting

confidence: 78%

Geometry of Freezing Impacts Ice Composition: Implications for Icy Satellites

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This is consistent with the amplification of impurity entrainment in fractures with a normal vector perpendicular to gravity (90° deviation) and epitomized by the complete retention of impurities in the floors of lenses, whose normal vector is antiparallel to gravity (180° deviation). This is additionally supported by empirical observations of chemical zonation patterns in mushy layers grown at variable geometries [Bédard et al, 1992;Hebditch and Hunt, 1974;Huppert, 1990;Leitch, 1987;Stephen et al, 1987]. We note the specification of 'potential' impurity entrainment, as we have also shown that for shallow fractures (~meters to tens of meters) the increase in efficiency of gravity drainage due to the horizontal freezing geometry results in lower impurity retention than in ice formed via top-down solidification subject to the same thermal forcing.…”

Section: Fracturessupporting

confidence: 78%

Geometry of Freezing Impacts Ice Composition: Implications for Icy Satellites

Buffo

Meyer

Chivers

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Non-ice impurities within the ice shells of ocean worlds (e.g., Europa, Enceladus, Titan) are believed to play a fundamental role in their geophysics and habitability and may become a surface expression of subsurface ocean properties. Heterogeneous entrainment and distribution of impurities within planetary ice shells have been proposed as mechanisms that can drive ice shell overturn, generate diverse geological features, and facilitate ocean-surface material transport critical for maintaining a habitable subsurface ocean. However, current models of ice shell composition suggest that impurity rejection at the ice-ocean interface of thick contemporary ice shells will be exceptionally efficient, resulting in relatively pure, homogeneous ice. As such, additional mechanisms capable of facilitating enhanced and heterogeneous impurity entrainment are needed to reconcile the observed physicochemical diversity of planetary ice shells. Here we investigate the potential for hydrologic features within planetary ice shells (sills and basal fractures), and the unique freezing geometries they promote, to provide such a mechanism. By simulating the two-dimensional thermal and physicochemical evolution of these hydrological features as they solidify, we demonstrate that bottom-up solidification at sill floors and horizontal solidification at fracture walls generate distinct ice compositions and provide mechanisms for both enhanced and heterogeneous impurity entrainment. We compare our results with magmatic and metallurgic analogs that exhibit similar micro-and macroscale chemical zonation patterns during solidification. Our results suggest variations in ice-ocean/brine interface geometry could play a fundamental role in introducing compositional heterogeneities into planetary ice shells and cryoconcentrating impurities in (re)frozen hydrologic features.

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Magmatic Processes

Cashman

Bergantz

1991

Reviews of Geophysics

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Laboratory Experiments with Aqueous Solutions Modelling Magma Chamber Processes. I. Discussion of Their Validity and Geological Application

Cited by 5 publications

References 41 publications

Geometry of Freezing Impacts Ice Composition: Implications for Icy Satellites

Geometry of Freezing Impacts Ice Composition: Implications for Icy Satellites

Geometry of Freezing Impacts Ice Composition: Implications for Icy Satellites

Magmatic Processes

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