Orientation Fabrics in Lake Ice

Abstract

AbstractLaboratory experiments and field observations permit an explanation of the varying crystallographic orientations observed in lake ice in terms of four factors: (1) coincidence of the plane of most rapid growth in ice (the basal plane) with the vector of thermal flux, (2) mechanical fragmentation of early-formed dendrites and plates by winds above a critical velocity (approximately 2.7 m./sec.), (3) the presence of a sufficiently thick layer of supercooled water to permit vertical crystal growth, and (4) the operation of geometric factors, first pointed out by Perey and Pounder, which result in the gradual elimination of the flatter plates of growing ice by the steeper ones.