Las Vegas, Nev.
Physicists have discovered a new form of ice, something they say redefines the properties of water at high pressures.
A team of scientists working in UNLV’s Nevada Extreme Conditions Lab pioneered a new method for measuring the properties of water under high pressure, according to a recent report from the university.
The scientists at the lab said the water sample was first squeezed between the tips of two opposite-facing diamonds - freezing into several jumbled ice crystals. The ice was then subjected to a laser-heating technique that temporarily melted it before it quickly reformed into a powder-like collection of tiny crystals.
By incrementally raising the pressure and periodically blasting it with the laser beam, the team observed the water ice transition from a known cubic phase, Ice-VII, to the newly discovered intermediate and tetragonal phase Ice-VIIt, before settling into another known phase, Ice-X.
UNLV reports the research team had been working to understand the behavior of high-pressure water that may be present in the interior of distant planets.
Zach Grande, a UNLV graduate student, led the work, which also demonstrated that the transition to Ice-X, when water stiffens aggressively, occurs at much lower pressures than previously thought, according to the university’s report.
“Zach’s work has demonstrated that this transformation to an ionic state occurs at much lower pressures than ever thought before,” said UNLV physicist Ashkan Salamat. “It’s the missing piece and the most precise measurements ever on water at these conditions.”
Researchers said solid water, or ice, forms different solid materials based on variable temperatures and pressure conditions, like carbon creating diamond or graphite. And water is exceptional in this aspect as there are at least 20 solid forms of ice currently known.
It’s unlikely to find this new phase of ice on the surface of Earth, but it is likely a common ingredient within the mantle of Earth and in large moons and water-rich planets outside of our solar system, according to UNLV.