International Journal of Geosciences

Volume 8, Issue 10 (October 2017)

ISSN Print: 2156-8359   ISSN Online: 2156-8367

Google-based Impact Factor: 0.56  Citations  h5-index & Ranking

Ion Exclusion at the Ice-Water Interface Differs from That at the Hydrate-Water Interface: Consequences for Methane Hydrate Exploration

HTML  XML Download Download as PDF (Size: 508KB)  PP. 1225-1230  
DOI: 10.4236/ijg.2017.810070    871 Downloads   1,639 Views  Citations
Author(s)

ABSTRACT

When water-ice grows into salt solutions ion species are excluded by the ice differentially due to non-identical solubility in the ice lattice. This causes an electrical potential across the interface during the ice growth process, initially named the Workman Reynolds Freezing Potential, and may be one of the causes for lightning. However, by measuring the voltage between the ice and water, we have found that when tetrahydrofuran hydrate crystals are grown into salt solutions all ion species are excluded equally and the potential does not manifest. When considered together, this marked difference in ion exclusion scenarios may have ramifications for hydrate exploration because of the chlorine anomaly, which is often used as an indicator of the presence of hydrate reserves.

Share and Cite:

Wilson, P. and Haymet, A. (2017) Ion Exclusion at the Ice-Water Interface Differs from That at the Hydrate-Water Interface: Consequences for Methane Hydrate Exploration. International Journal of Geosciences, 8, 1225-1230. doi: 10.4236/ijg.2017.810070.

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.