Dislocations in ice as revealed by etching

Abstract

The process of etching and replicating ice surfaces has been investigated. It has been shown that the process can be made selective for specific purposes by preparing the surface with a microtome and by varying the concentration of the etchant, thickness of the etchant, temperature and drying time. Replication of etch-pits in the form of whiskers was possible for both basal and non-basal dislocations, thereby directly establishing the correspondence of etch-pits to line defects. The technique was used to study the movement of non-basal dislocations under uniform and non-uniform stress fields. Grown-in defects and non-basal dislocations could be revealed by the method.