Scientists have discovered a previously unknown transitional form of ice that may well exist in the bowels of the Earth or on other planets
Performing another experiment with high pressure and ice, scientists managed to discover a previously unknown so-called transitional form of crystalline ice, which was given the name Ice-VIIt.
Scientists have suggested that such ice may well be found in the depths of our planet or on other planets with a large presence of water. That's about this experiment and will be discussed in the current material.
Ice and its many forms
As you know, ice, in principle, like many other solid substances, is capable of forming various forms, which primarily depend on temperature and external pressure. So the well-known carbon can exist in the form of diamond or ordinary graphite.
But it would seem that simple ice is unique in that it simply has a huge number of different phases. So at the moment, scientists have identified 20 of its forms. At the same time, three of them are amorphous, and the remaining 17 are crystalline.
And in the course of another laboratory experiment, a scientific group from the University of Nevada discovered another, previously unknown form of ice.
The engineers decided to perform a series of experiments on ice using a diamond anvil, which can create a pressure of a couple of million atmospheres.
So, in a special recess on the diamond anvils, scientists placed ordinary water and increased the pressure until it began to form mixed ice crystals.
Further, due to the use of a laser, the formed ice was heated until it was completely melted, and then the pressure was continued to increase, periodically reheating and melting the ice.
At the same time, scientists discovered during the observation how ice performs a transition with a cubic crystal lattice Ice-VII to a previously unobserved form called Ice-VIIt. And already further the ice passed into the form Ice-X, which is already well known to scientists.
But here's what's interesting. The formation of Ice-X from a previously unknown form occurred at a pressure of only 300,000 atmospheres, although it was previously assumed that such ice forms only at a pressure of at least one million atmospheres.
The scientists concluded that to find Ice-VIIt on Earth, most likely, it is possible only in the upper layers of the mantle. But this form of ice may well be common on other planets where water is present in sufficient quantities.
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