An Ice Pump is a thermohaline mechanism of varying the thickness of an ice shelf. Salt is rejected as water crystallizes so the remaining liquid is saltier. The saltier water is more dense (i.e. has negative buoyancy) and sinks The salty water will melt the ice sheet through contact with it at deeper depths because it has a lower melting point The freshwater melt from the ice shell will be less dense and rise to shallower regions where it will refreeze…
The color any object appears to be is actually the color most readily reflected away from it. The color of a mineral is is commonly due to the presence of trace elements and/or defects in the crystal structure and can be described in three broad categories. Crystal Field Transition: Electrons in the d orbital of transition elements (a.ka. chromophore elements) leap to higher energy levels when a light is shone upon them by absorbing some of the light at the…
A diapir is region of lower density material (in this case salt) intruding into the overlying material. Salt Diapirs are formed through the slow process of evaporation, sedimentation, and compaction. A region experiences frequent flooding Subsequent evaporation will deposit salt The area is covered by later deposition where the overlying material will compact the deeper material. The density of the deeper sediment will increase while the density of salt is less affected by the pressure because of its crystal structure…