Ice segregation is the geological phenomenon produced by the formation of ice lenses, which induce erosion when moisture, diffused within soil or rock, accumulates in a localized zone. The ice initially accumulates within small collocated pores or pre-existing cracks, and, as long as the conditions remain favorable, continues to collect in the ice layer or ice lens, wedging the soil or rock apart. Ice lenses grow parallel to the surface and several centimeters to several decimeters (inches to feet) deep in the soil or rock. Studies between 1990 and present have demonstrated that rock fracture by ice segregation (i.e., the fracture of intact rock by ice lenses that grow by drawing water from their surroundings during periods of sustained subfreezing temperatures) is a more effective weathering process than the freeze-thaw process which older texts proposed. Ice lenses play the key role in fracture of bedrock and frost induced heaving of soils, which are fundamental to weathering in cold regions. Frost heaving creates debris and dramatically shapes landscapes into complex patterns. Rock fracture in periglacial regions (alpine, subpolar and polar) has often been attributed to the freezing and volumetric expansion of water trapped within pores and cracks. However the majority of frost heaving and of bedrock fracture results instead from ice segregation in ice lenses in the near-surface frozen regions. Ice segregation results in rock fracture and frost heave.
Description of the phenomena
Common frost heaving
Frost heave is the process by which the freezing of water-saturated soil causes the deformation and upward thrust of the ground surface. This process can distort and crack pavement, damage the foundations of buildings and displace soil in regular patterns. Moist, fine-grained soil at certain temperatures is most susceptible to frost heaving.
Ice lenses in tundra
Frost heave is common in arctic tundra because the permafrost maintains ground frozen at depth and prevents snowmelt and rain from draining. As a result, conditions are optimal for deep ice lens formation with large ice accumulations and significant soil displacement. Differential frost heave producing complex patterns will occur if the correct conditions exist. Feedback from one year's frost heave influences the effects in subsequent years. For example, a small increase in overburden will affect the depth of ice formation and heaving in the subsequent years. Time-dependent models of the frost heave indicate that over a long enough period the short-separation perturbations damp out, while mid-range perturbations grow and come to dominate the landscape.
Subglacial ice formations
Bands of sediment or glacial till have been observed below Antarctic ice sheets; these are believed to result from ice lenses forming in the debris. In the faster flowing glacial regions, the ice sheet is sliding over water saturated sediments (glacial till) or actually being floated upon a layer of water. The till and water serve to reduce friction between the base of the ice sheet and the bedrock. These subglacial waters come from surface water which seasonally drains from melting at the surface, as well as from ice-sheet base melting. Ice lens growth within the bedrock below the glacier is projected during the summer months when there is ample water at the base of the glacier. Ice lenses will form within the bedrock, accumulating until the rock is sufficiently weakened that it shears or spalls off. Layers of rock along the interface between glaciers and the bedrock are freed, producing much of the sediments in these basal regions of glaciers. Since the rate of glacier movement is dependent upon the characteristics of this basal ice, research is ongoing to better quantify the phenomena.
Understanding the phenomena
The basic condition for ice segregation and frost heaving is existence of a region in soil or porous rock which is relatively permeable, is in a temperature range which allows the coexistence of ice and water (in a premelted state), and has a temperature gradient across the region. A key phenomenon for understanding ice segregation in soil or porous rock (also referred to as an ice lens due to its shape) is premelting, which is the development of a liquid film on surfaces and interfaces at temperatures significantly below their bulk melting temperature. The term premelting is used to describe the reduction in the melting temperature (below 0 °C) which results from the surface curvature of porous media confining water (the Gibbs-Thomson effect). Premelted water exists as a thin layer on the surface of ice. Under premelting conditions, ice and water can coexist at temperatures below -10 °C in a porous medium. The Gibbs-Thomson effect results in water migrating down a thermal gradient (from higher temperatures to lower temperatures); Dash states, "…material is carried to colder regions…" This can also be viewed energetically as favoring larger ice particles over smaller (Ostwald ripening). As a result, when conditions exist for ice segregation (ice lens formation) water flows toward the segregated ice and freezes on the surface, thickening the segregated ice layer. It is possible to develop analytic models using these principles; they predict the following characteristics, which are consistent with field observations:
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