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Durham et al. 2005
Durham, W.B., McKinnon, W.B. and Stern, L.A. (2005). Cold compaction of water ice. Geophysical Research Letters 32: doi: 10.1029/2005GL023484. issn: 0094-8276.

Hydrostatic compaction of granulated water ice was measured in laboratory experiments at temperatures 77 K to 120 K. We performed step-wise hydrostatic pressurization tests on 5 samples to maximum pressures P of 150 MPa, using relatively tight (0.18--0.25 mm) and broad (0.25--2.0 mm) starting grain-size distributions. Compaction change of volume is highly nonlinear in P, typical for brittle, granular materials. No time-dependent creep occurred on the lab time scale. Significant residual porosity (~0.10) remains even at highest P. Examination by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals a random configuration of fractures and broad distribution of grain sizes, again consistent with brittle behavior. Residual porosity appears as smaller, well-supported micropores between ice fragments. Over the interior pressures found in smaller midsize icy satellites and Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs), substantial porosity can be sustained over solar system history in the absence of significant heating and resultant sintering.

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

Abstract

Keywords
Physical Properties of Rocks, Fracture and flow, Physical Properties of Rocks, Microstructure, Physical Properties of Rocks, Permeability and porosity, Planetary Sciences, Solid Surface Planets, Origin and evolution, Planetary Sciences, Solar System Objects, Kuiper belt objects
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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