Ice Shell Structure and Composition of Ocean Worlds: Insights from Accreted Ice on Earth

Accreted ice retains and preserves traces of the ocean from which it formed. In this work, we study two classes of accreted ice found on Earth-frazil ice, which forms through crystallization within a supercooled water column, and congelation ice, which forms through directional freezing at an existing interface-and discuss where each might be found in the ice shells of ocean worlds. We focus our study on terrestrial ice formed in low temperature gradient environments (e.g., beneath ice shelves), consistent with conditions expected at the ice-ocean interfaces of Europa and Enceladus, and we highlight the juxtaposition of compositional trends in relation to ice formed in higher temperature gradient environments (e.g., at the ocean surface). Observations from Antarctic sub-ice-shelf congelation ice and marine ice show that the purity of frazil ice can be nearly two orders of magnitude higher than congelation ice formed in the same low temperature gradient environment (similar to 0.1% vs. similar to 10% of the ocean salinity). In addition, where congelation ice can maintain a planar ice-water interface on a microstructural scale, the efficiency of salt rejection is enhanced (similar to 1% of the ocean salinity) and lattice soluble impurities such as chloride are preferentially incorporated. We conclude that an ice shell that forms by gradual thickening as its interior cools would be composed of congelation ice, whereas frazil ice will accumulate where the ice shell thins on local (rifts and basal fractures) or regional (latitudinal gradients) scales through the operation of an ice pump.

Automated summary

Accreted ice, including frazil ice and congelation ice, retains traces of the ocean and can be found in the ice shells of ocean worlds. Our study focuses on terrestrial ice formed in low temperature gradient environments and highlights the differences in compositional trends compared to ice formed in higher temperature gradient environments. We conclude that ice shells formed by gradual thickening are composed of congelation ice, while frazil ice accumulates where the ice shell thins.