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ABSTRACT
Because
of the ubiquitous nature of ice, chemistry taking place on ice surfaces
can have a substantial effect on the environment, particularly in the
polar regions, through processes such as ozone depletion and mercury
deposition. Frost flowers are an ice form found on newly formed sea ice
that have the potential to play a role in halogen activation due to their
high salinity and surface area. Current understanding of the role of
frost flowers in these processes is inhibited by a lack of knowledge
of the impurity distribution in relation to the ice surface. One way
of obtaining this information is through the use of X-ray microtomography.
This technique allows for visualization and quantitative analysis of
the brine distribution. Analysis of the data shows that while brine is
concentrated near the surface of the frost flower, it is unevenly distributed
over the surface corroborating previously proposed mechanisms of frost
flower growth and effects of the growth process on surface microstructure.
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