Laboratory formation of micro-penitentes at temperatures and pressures relevant to Earth and other worlds
We conducted a series of experiments that revealed the formation of mm-scale penitente structures in ice illuminated by broadband light under moderate vacuum conditions between 50 and 2000 Pa. The experimental apparatus consists of a 0.3 m diameter cylindrical vacuum chamber with a cooling jacket su...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Glaciology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143024000674/type/journal_article |
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| _version_ | 1841526399497666560 |
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| author | Daniel Floyd Berisford Jeffrey Tyler Foster Jacob Kosberg Benjamin Furst Michael Joseph Poston Takuro Daimaru Maggie Lang Lavina Backman Kevin Peter Hand |
| author_facet | Daniel Floyd Berisford Jeffrey Tyler Foster Jacob Kosberg Benjamin Furst Michael Joseph Poston Takuro Daimaru Maggie Lang Lavina Backman Kevin Peter Hand |
| author_sort | Daniel Floyd Berisford |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We conducted a series of experiments that revealed the formation of mm-scale penitente structures in ice illuminated by broadband light under moderate vacuum conditions between 50 and 2000 Pa. The experimental apparatus consists of a 0.3 m diameter cylindrical vacuum chamber with a cooling jacket surrounding the outer radius and bottom surface. Light shines in through an optical window at the top to illuminate most of the ice surface. We observe penitente-like structures at temperatures between −15$^\circ$C and $-2^\circ$C and pressures close to the equilibrium vapor pressure at the ice surface temperature. The formation of these structures is very sensitive to slight changes in background pressure, and the structures tend to vanish with significant deviations away from the equilibrium curve, resulting in a smooth sublimated crater formation instead of penitentes. Application of the physical model by Claudin and others (2015, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.92.033015) at experimental conditions generally agrees with observations for penitente spacing. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-117e16b34800481094e5c54e86961e1d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Glaciology |
| spelling | doaj-art-117e16b34800481094e5c54e86961e1d2025-01-16T21:51:15ZengCambridge University PressJournal of Glaciology0022-14301727-56522024-01-017010.1017/jog.2024.67Laboratory formation of micro-penitentes at temperatures and pressures relevant to Earth and other worldsDaniel Floyd Berisford0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8646-728XJeffrey Tyler Foster1Jacob Kosberg2Benjamin Furst3Michael Joseph Poston4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5113-1017Takuro Daimaru5Maggie Lang6Lavina Backman7Kevin Peter Hand8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3225-9426NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA Airborne Snow Observatories, Inc., Mammoth Lakes, CA, USANASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USANASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USANASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USASpacecraft Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, USANASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USANASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USASpace Science Division, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USANASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USAWe conducted a series of experiments that revealed the formation of mm-scale penitente structures in ice illuminated by broadband light under moderate vacuum conditions between 50 and 2000 Pa. The experimental apparatus consists of a 0.3 m diameter cylindrical vacuum chamber with a cooling jacket surrounding the outer radius and bottom surface. Light shines in through an optical window at the top to illuminate most of the ice surface. We observe penitente-like structures at temperatures between −15$^\circ$C and $-2^\circ$C and pressures close to the equilibrium vapor pressure at the ice surface temperature. The formation of these structures is very sensitive to slight changes in background pressure, and the structures tend to vanish with significant deviations away from the equilibrium curve, resulting in a smooth sublimated crater formation instead of penitentes. Application of the physical model by Claudin and others (2015, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.92.033015) at experimental conditions generally agrees with observations for penitente spacing.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143024000674/type/journal_articleEnergy balanceice physicssnow/ice surface processes |
| spellingShingle | Daniel Floyd Berisford Jeffrey Tyler Foster Jacob Kosberg Benjamin Furst Michael Joseph Poston Takuro Daimaru Maggie Lang Lavina Backman Kevin Peter Hand Laboratory formation of micro-penitentes at temperatures and pressures relevant to Earth and other worlds Journal of Glaciology Energy balance ice physics snow/ice surface processes |
| title | Laboratory formation of micro-penitentes at temperatures and pressures relevant to Earth and other worlds |
| title_full | Laboratory formation of micro-penitentes at temperatures and pressures relevant to Earth and other worlds |
| title_fullStr | Laboratory formation of micro-penitentes at temperatures and pressures relevant to Earth and other worlds |
| title_full_unstemmed | Laboratory formation of micro-penitentes at temperatures and pressures relevant to Earth and other worlds |
| title_short | Laboratory formation of micro-penitentes at temperatures and pressures relevant to Earth and other worlds |
| title_sort | laboratory formation of micro penitentes at temperatures and pressures relevant to earth and other worlds |
| topic | Energy balance ice physics snow/ice surface processes |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143024000674/type/journal_article |
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