Ice 0 in the natural environment. Experimental data and assumed areas of its existence

The paper presents the available experimental data on ice 0 and the assumed objects of the cryosphere in which it can exist. This ice is formed from supercooled volumetric water, and it precedes the formation of ices Ih or Ic, at temperatures below −23 °C. This crystalline modification has been recently predicted by computer simulations using methods of molecular dynamics. Ice 0 was then experimentally found by electromagnetic investigation of wetted nanoporous media. Interest in this modification of ice was aroused due to its special physical and chemical characteristics. A singularity of ice 0 is that it is a ferroelectric that has a high static dielectric constant. When ferroelectric ice 0 contacts other dielectrics at their boundaries a thin layer is formed due to the diffusion of electric charges, and its electrical conductivity is higher than that of the contacting media. High electrical conductivity in thin films allows investigating frozen dispersed media containing ice 0 using non-contact electromagnetic measurement methods. As this takes place, it becomes possible to register water freezing processes in objects existing at temperatures of −23 ÷ −100 C using microwave spectroscopy and remote sensing methods. It is assumed that ice 0 is involved in chemical transformations in different objects of the cryosphere – in the atmosphere, and vegetation and soil covers. Its formation in the pores of materials of man-made structures may exert influence on the life-time of mechanisms and structures at low temperatures due to increased electrocorrosion. Ice 0 is assumed to exist on cold planets and their moons. That is why studying the possibility of ice 0 appearing in different objects of the natural environment at negative temperatures is so important for understanding their properties and developing remote sensing methods.