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. 2017 Jan 5;12(1):e0169720.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169720. eCollection 2017.

Heterogeneous Ice Nucleation by Soufriere Hills Volcanic Ash Immersed in Water Droplets

T P Mangan  1   2 , J D Atkinson  1 , J W Neuberg  1 , D O'Sullivan  1 , T W Wilson  1 , T F Whale  1 , L Neve  1 , N S Umo  1 , T L Malkin  1 , B J Murray  1
Affiliations

Heterogeneous Ice Nucleation by Soufriere Hills Volcanic Ash Immersed in Water Droplets

T P Mangan et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Fine particles of ash emitted during volcanic eruptions may sporadically influence cloud properties on a regional or global scale as well as influencing the dynamics of volcanic clouds and the subsequent dispersion of volcanic aerosol and gases. It has been shown that volcanic ash can trigger ice nucleation, but ash from relatively few volcanoes has been studied for its ice nucleating ability. In this study we quantify the efficiency with which ash from the Soufriere Hills volcano on Montserrat nucleates ice when immersed in supercooled water droplets. Using an ash sample from the 11th February 2010 eruption, we report ice nucleating efficiencies from 246 to 265 K. This wide range of temperatures was achieved using two separate droplet freezing instruments, one employing nanolitre droplets, the other using microlitre droplets. Soufriere Hills volcanic ash was significantly more efficient than all other ash samples that have been previously examined. At present the reasons for these differences are not understood, but may be related to mineralogy, amorphous content and surface chemistry.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Fraction of droplets frozen as a function of temperature for nanolitre and microlitre volume supercooled water droplets containing Soufriere Hills volcanic ash particles.
Droplets with diameters in the range of 30–70 μm (nanolitre volumes) were cooled at 10 K min-1 and had ash concentrations of 0.1 wt%. The 1 microlitre droplets had an ash concentration of 0.01 wt% and were cooled at rates from 0.2–2 K min-1.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Values of ns in units of cm-2 as a function of temperature, at concentrations of 0.01-0.1 wt%, for droplets of nanolitre and microlitre volume containing Soufriere Hills volcanic ash.
Parameterisations of K-feldspar taken from Atkinson et al. [31] and desert dusts taken from Niemand et al. [36] are included for comparison.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Values of ns in units of cm-2 as a function of temperature, for ice nucleation by volcanic ashes in the immersion/condensation modes from this study and the literature [,–23].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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