Hexagonal Twin Prisms of Ice

T. Kobayashi National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colo. 80303

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T. Ohtake Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, Fairbanks 99701

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Abstract

Many prismatic ice crystals have been observed to have grooves which circle the prism faces at right angles to the c-axis. In both natural and artificial crystals the grooves appear when the crystal is evaporating and disappear when it is growing. A possible ice-twinning structure is proposed to explain these observations, analogous to zinc-blende rotation twins and implying a diamond-structured layer at the interface.

Abstract

Many prismatic ice crystals have been observed to have grooves which circle the prism faces at right angles to the c-axis. In both natural and artificial crystals the grooves appear when the crystal is evaporating and disappear when it is growing. A possible ice-twinning structure is proposed to explain these observations, analogous to zinc-blende rotation twins and implying a diamond-structured layer at the interface.

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