Grain size-sensitive creep in ice II.
Rheological experiments on fine-grained water ice II at low strain rates reveal a creep mechanism that dominates at conditions of low stress. Using cryogenic scanning electron microscopy, we observed that a change in stress exponent from 5 to 2.5 correlates strongly with a decrease in grain size from about 40 to 6 micrometers. The grain size-sensitive creep of ice II demonstrated here plausibly dominates plastic strain at the low-stress conditions in the interior of medium- to large-sized icy moons of the outer solar system.
Kubo
Tomoaki
T
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan. kubotomo@geo.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Durham
William B
WB
Stern
Laura A
LA
Kirby
Stephen H
SH
D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002627:Chemistry, Physical; D007053:Ice; D018538:Jupiter; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D018541:Neptune; D016083:Planets; D011312:Pressure; D012212:Rheology; D018539:Saturn; D018540:Uranus
D007053:Ice