Self-Healing Behavior of Ice

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that ice surfaces can self-heal from scratches through sublimation and condensation processes, with the healing rate strongly dependent on temperature, following Arrhenius behavior.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence that sublimation dominates ice self-healing and quantifies the temperature dependence of the process.

Findings

Self-healing occurs within approximately one hour.

Sublimation is identified as the primary mechanism.

Healing rate follows Arrhenius temperature dependence.

Abstract

We show that the surface of ice is self-healing: micrometer deep scratches in the ice surface spontaneously disappear by relaxation on a time scale of roughly an hour. Following the dynamics and comparing it to different mass transfer mechanisms, we find that sublimation from and condensation onto the ice surface is the dominant self-healing mechanism. The self-healing kinetics shows a strong temperature dependence, following an Arrhenius behavior with an activation energy of $\Delta E = 58.6 \pm 4.6$ kJ/mole, agreeing with the proposed sublimation mechanism, and at odds with surface diffusion or fluid flow or evaporation-condensation from a quasi-liquid layer.