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Nucleation characteristics of stream water and frazil ice nucleation
Author(s) -
Osterkamp T. E.,
Gilfilian R. E.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr011i006p00926
Subject(s) - supercooling , nucleation , ice nucleus , materials science , drop (telecommunication) , thermodynamics , physics , telecommunications , computer science
A drop‐freezing experiment was used to study the nucleation characteristics of some natural water samples taken from a supercooled stream in interior Alaska. A histogram of drop‐freezing events, the differential nucleus spectrum, and the cumulative nucleus spectrum describe the experimental results. The drops froze over a temperature range from −4.3°C to −13.9°C with an average nucleation temperature of −8.2°C ±1.5°C. The results of these experiments are compared to observations made during periods of frazil ice production in the stream. It is concluded that the supercooling necessary for spontaneous heterogeneous nucleation of ice in a thin surface layer of stream water would be ∼ −4°C. Since the surface temperature of the supercooled stream was found to be 0°C ± 0.5°C, frazil ice crystals cannot be nucleated spontaneously in the surface layer of water.