Density of Single Crystals of Ice from a Temperate Glacier

Abstract

AbstractDensity of single crystals of ice from the Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau, Alaska, a temperate glacier, was determined by the hydrostatic weighing method. It was found that the densities of single crystals are slightly but measurably variable from one crystal to another. The values range from a minimum of 0.91712 gm./cm.3 to a maximum of 0.91728 gm./cm.3, when corrected for −3.5° C., for the eight crystals measured. Any imperfections such as Tyndall figures (hexagonal prismatic voids) were immediately evident in the density determinations, and correction for these imperfections give a corrected density essentially the same as that of clear specimens. Two clear crystal aggregate specimens tested had a lower density than the pure single ice crystals. An error computation gives the value of the estimated maximum error of the density determinations as ±2.1×10−5 gm./cm.3.