The interface between ice and silicate surfaces

Experiments have been conducted with a particular layer lattice silicate, montmorillonite, in order to study the interaction of water and ice with silicate surfaces. The structural features of this class of silicate minerals are described, and other aspects which have a particular bearing on interfacial phenomena are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the nature of water and aqueous solutions, mechanisms of clay-water interaction, physical and thermodynamic properties of clay-adsorbed water, freezing point depression and supercooling, the existence of unfrozen interfacial water, spatial distribution of unfrozen water, the nature of the ice phase, and phase relationships. (Author).