Snow metamorphism as revealed by scanning electron microscopy

Abstract

Current theories of snow metamorphism indicate that sublimating snow crystals have rounded shapes, while growing crystals have shapes that depend on growth rates. At slow growth rates, crystals are rounded. At moderate rates, they have flat faces with rounded edges. At fast growth rates, crystals have flat faces with sharp edges, and they have hollow faces at very fast growth rates. The main growth/sublimation mechanism is thought to be by the homogeneous nucleation of new layers at or near crystal edges. It was also suggested that the equilibrium shape of snow crystals would be temperature dependent: rounded above -10.5 degrees C, and faceted below. To test these paradigms, we have performed SEM investigations of snow samples having undergone metamorphism under natural conditions, and of snow samples subjected to isothermal metamorphism at -4 degrees and -15 degrees C in the laboratory. In general, current theories predicting crystal shapes as a function of growth rates, and of whether crystals are growing or sublimating, are verified. However, the transition in equilibrium shapes from rounded to faceted at -10.5 degrees C is not observed in our isothermal experiments that reveal a predominance of rounded shapes after more than a month of metamorphism at -4 and -15 degrees C. Some small crystals with flat faces that also have sharp angles at -15 degrees C, are observed in our isothermal experiments. These faces are newly formed, and contradict current theory. Several hypotheses are proposed to explain their occurrence. One is that they are due to sublimation at emerging dislocations.

Snow metamorphism under alternating temperature gradients: Morphology and recrystallization in surface snow

“…These complex morphological regimes are usually attributed to surface kinetic effects at the ice-air interface [Colbeck, 1987]. However, formation of facets was observed at low growth rates with a gradient of 3 K m À1 after 3 weeks [Flin and Brzoska, 2008], and even under isothermal conditions [Dominé et al, 2003]. These earlier findings and our results contradict the notion of a critical gradient.…”

Measuring the specific surface area of snow with X-ray tomography and gas adsorption: comparison and implications for surface smoothness

“…Similar microstructures have been seen by Dominé et al (2003) with the same technique, but they explain some of them as artefacts due to the resublimation of humid air during the transfer of the samples, which had been stored at liquid nitrogen temperature, into the SEM sample chamber. Nonetheless, even if those observations were artefacts, they show that microstructures can easily form at low temperature.…”

Microstructural characterization of firn

“…We note that others (e.g. Dominé et al, 2003;Erbe et al, 2003;Rosenthal et al, 2007), have produced outstanding images of snow in field emission gun SEMs by holding specimens at 130 to 185°C and using a low accelerating voltage (generally 2-5 kV). The low accelerating voltage enhances surface conduction and minimizes specimen charging.…”