Ice has become pretty controversial lately, and researchers have now made a groundbreaking discovery by directly witnessing a new phase of ice, plastic ice. Now, physicist Livia Bove and her colleagues at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris have pinned down a long-suspected, rarer, hybrid form of water. This mode of expression is distinguished by its aesthetic qualities. The findings, published recently, provide insights into the conditions under which plastic ice forms and its potential implications for understanding celestial bodies within our solar system.
Plastic ice is created at very high temperatures of more than 177° C and pressure over 30,000 bars. This unique phase exhibits characteristics of both good old ice and, well, water. It has a very open ordered cubic crystal lattice structure, with water molecules tumbling just like they do, in fact, in liquid water. The Greenland study represents an important contribution to our understanding of ice, our key recorders and interpreters of Earth’s history and climate. Furthermore, it suggests that such environments may be common across many icy moons and exoplanets.
Unique Properties of Plastic Ice
The ice structure of plastic ice looks like a Rubik’s Cube. In this model, the molecules are closely packed and systematically ordered. Plastic ice is distinguishable by several notable physical characteristics. Unlike the better well-known ice Ih, which is ubiquitous on Earth, it presents a very different situation. In this phase, water molecules can rotate rapidly. This mobility even permits them to rupture hydrogen bonds with one partner and quickly establish new interactions with another, producing ambivalent qualities.
This peculiar aspect of plastic ice means it can react differently than regular ice.
“Something intermediate between a liquid and a crystal, you can imagine that it is softer when you squeeze it.”
This study of plastic ice wouldn’t have been possible without the high-tech equipment at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France. Researchers employed a state-of-the-art dynamic tool that tracks chemical molecular motions at high pressures. This breakthrough gave them a way to compound how water molecules move around in this unique phase. Researchers aren’t surprised by these findings. Simulations run on computers 15 years ago already predicted them. Further down, those simulations predicted that ice VII would begin to rotate freely at Arcus’s experimental conditions.
Observational Breakthroughs
Bove’s team meticulously recreated the high-pressure environment necessary for plastic ice formation, confirming theoretical predictions and expanding the understanding of water’s behavior under extreme conditions.
The finding of plastic ice now has important astrobiology implications. Similar conditions may be found on other worlds such as Europa and Titan. These areas are characterized by floes of multiyear ice that blanket whole polar oceans. The presence of plastic ice at the bottoms of these oceans has implications for the existence of potential habitable environments. Life very well could thrive in these strange new conditions!
Implications for Astrobiology
Those peculiarities of plastic ice provide a wealth of information to researchers. They can provide critical insights into the atmospheric and surface environments of exoplanets with thick, deep oceans. Scientists are enthusiastically studying these far-off planets. Knowing how water operates under such extreme conditions will be key to evaluating environments habitability.
Furthermore, the characteristics of plastic ice could also inform scientists about the atmospheric and surface conditions on exoplanets with deep oceans. As researchers continue to explore these distant worlds, understanding how water behaves in extreme environments will be crucial in assessing their habitability.
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