Ice microstructure and fabric: an up-to-date approach for measuring textures

Gaël Durand (1) , Olivier Gagliardini (2) , Throstur Thorsteinsson (3) , Anders Svensson (1) , Sepp Kipfstuhl (4) , Dorthe Dahl-Jensen (1)

1 NBI - Niels Bohr Institute [Copenhagen]
2 LGGE - Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement
3 Institute of Earth Sciences [Reykjavik]
4 Abteilung Klinische Sozialmedizin, Berufs- und Umweltdermatologie

Automatic c-axes analyzers have been developed over the past few years, leading to a large improvement in the data available for analysis of ice crystal texture. Such an increase in the quality and quantity of data allows for stricter statistical estimates. The current textural parameters, i.e. fabric (crystallographic orientations) and microstructure (grain-boundary networks), are presented. These parameters define the state of the polycrystal and give information about the deformation undergone by the ice. To reflect the findings from automatic measurements, some parameter definitions are updated and new parameters are proposed. Moreover, a MATLAB® toolbox has been developed to extract all the textural parameters. This toolbox, which can be downloaded online, is briefly described.

Domains: Glaciology

Gaël Durand, Olivier Gagliardini, Throstur Thorsteinsson, Anders Svensson, Sepp Kipfstuhl, et al.. Ice microstructure and fabric: an up-to-date approach for measuring textures. Journal of Glaciology, 2006, 52 (179), pp.619 à 630. ⟨10.3189/172756506781828377⟩. ⟨insu-00376247⟩