Even in Antarctica ice will melt. As the sun stays higher and higher in the sky as summer progresses, the warm sun causes the ice to melt. The questions that we are going to ask in the following activity are: Does clean ice (no sediment) or dirty ice (has sediment mixed in it) melt faster? and Would the ice melt if all the sunlight was reflected away?
The dirty ice portions of the glacier near our tunnel melted like crazy on sunny days.
To complete the following activity, use the pictures below to complete the data tables on the student handouts and then graph away.
The dirty ice is on the left, the clean ice is in the middle, and the clean ice with foil is on the right. Which one do you think will melt first?
After one hour the dirty ice created 3mL, the clean ice created 0mL, and the clean ice with foil created 0mL of melt water.
After two hours the dirty ice created 80mL, the clean ice created 2mL, and the clean ice with foil created 0mL of melt water.
After three hours the dirty ice created 130mL, the clean ice created 3mL, and the clean ice with foil created 5mL of melt water.
After four hours the dirty ice created 180mL, the clean ice created 20mL, and the clean ice with foil created 5mL of melt water.
After five hours the dirty ice created 190mL, the clean ice created 30mL, and the clean ice with foil went back to 0mL of melt water because it refroze.
After six hours the dirty ice stayed at 190mL of melt water, the clean ice refroze and went back to 0mL, and the clean ice with foil stayed frozen with 0mL of melt water.
After seven hours the dirty ice started to refreeze and went down to 150mL of melt water. The clean ice and the clean ice with foil stayed frozen with 0mL of melt water.
After restarting the melting the next day at the same time, at hour eight the dirty ice created 225mL, the clean ice created 80mL, and the clean ice with foil created 0mL of melt water.
After nine hours the dirty ice created 325mL, the clean ice created 90mL, and the clean ice with foil created 0mL of melt water.
After ten hours the dirty ice created 375mL, the clean ice created 100mL, and the clean ice with foil created 0mL of melt water.
After eleven hours the dirty ice created 400mL, the clean ice created 110mL, and the clean ice with foil created 0mL of melt water.
After twelve hours the dirty ice is completely melted and created 475mL of melt water, the clean ice created 125mL, and the clean ice with foil created 0mL of melt water.
As you walked across Lake Bonney there were ripples in the ice. The bottom of the ripples had sediment in them like dirty ice. Knowing what you now know about the melting rates of clean and dirty ice, how do you think those ripples formed?
A Video Clip of the GlacierA mass of ice that persists for many years and notably deforms and flows under the influence of gravity. Melting
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