Overview

Mission

Ice is our interest. We have established a specialized laboratory capable of performing various low-temperature treatments on ice samples. Additionally, we possess the expertise and experience to conduct electron microscopy observations of ice under cryogenic conditions, thereby enabling novel insights into ice through state-of-the-art analytical approaches.

Ice is one of the most abundant rock-forming minerals in the solar system, forming not only ice sheets and glaciers on Earth, but also ice caps on Mars and ice shells on icy satellites. Investigations on the flow dynamics of ice allows us to better predict the future ice flow rate and consequently the sea-level rise on Earth; and to better understand the dynamics of planet interiors. Both aspects are related to habitability and crucial to all mankind.   

Key fields

Rheology: derive ice flow laws for different creep mechamisms and for ice with  different secondary phases.  

Microstructure: the evolution of microstructure, especially the crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO).    

Liquid-solid, two-phase flow: the migration, segregation (possible) and channelization (possible) of liquie phase in the ice + brine system.