2008/10/03 by Kenneth G. Libbrecht, Libbrecht, Kenneth G.
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Atmospheric aerosols and clouds #Cryospheric studies and observations #FOS: Physical sciences #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #nanoparticles nucleation surface interactions
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0810.0689
arxiv created 2008/10/03 · openalex publication_date 2008/10/03 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We examine the molecular dynamics of crystal growth in the presence of surface melting and surface impurities, and from this propose a detailed microscopic model for the growth of ice from the vapor phase. Our model naturally accounts for many aspects of the experimental data that are otherwise difficult to explain, and it suggests a variety of measurements that can provide further confirmation. Although additional work is needed to refine these ideas, we believe that the combined influences of surface melting and impurities provide a viable solution to the 60-year-old mystery of why snow crystal morphologies vary so dramatically with temperature.