| Term: | Recrystallization |
| Definition: |
(1) The metamorphosis, without melting but not necessarily without advection in the vapour phase, of an assemblage of grains of snow and old crystals of ice to a new assemblage of crystals of ice, generally resulting in changes of mean crystal size and orientation (fabric) and, of most significance for mass-balance purposes, an increase of density. See congelation, infiltration ice, glacier. (2) The formation of a new assemblage of crystals from an old assemblage. Sense 1 is the meaning of the term in studies of the densification of snow, while sense 2 is its everyday meaning. IHPGlacierMassBalance
GCW |