Depositional and Immersion-Mode Ice Nucleation of Fine-Grained Volcanic Ash Samples

Volcanic lightning is a common phenomenon during explosive eruptions; occurring as vent discharges, near-vent discharges, and plume lightning. Plume lightning is most similar to thunderstorm lightning, where volcanic ash may act as ice nuclei. Volcanic ash samples derived from eight volcanoes: Augustine, Crater Peak, Katmai, Okmok, Redoubt (Alaska, U.S.A.), Lathrop Well (Nevada, U.S.A.), Taupo (New Zealand), and Valles Caldera (New Mexico, U.S.A.); were used to determine what roles ash mineralogy, particularly Fe-oxide-bearing minerals and silica-enriched minerals, grain shape, and grain size have in the nucleation of ice, which can generate plume lightning. Depositional and immersion-mode ice nucleation experiments were performed using a Nicolet Almega XR Dispersive Raman spectrometer, following the methods of Schill et al. (2015), where samples were shaken for 24 h prior to experiments in ultra-pure water, then nebulized to super micron droplets. Depositional nucleation experiments were conducted from 225-235 K, and immersion-mode nucleation experiments were conducted from 233-278 K. A JEOL JSM 6010 Plus/LA scanning electron microscope (SEM), along with Image-J freeware, was used to quantify the number density of Fe-oxide mineral phases in backscattered electron images, with an x-ray diffractometer (XRD) used to determine bulk mineral abundance and an x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer to determine bulk ash composition. Based on previous studies, we hypothesize that all ash samples will efficiently form depositional ice nuclei; however, certain mineral phases will dictate the efficiency of immersion-mode ice nucleation including K or Na / Ca feldspars, which have been shown to be efficient nuclei, and Fe-oxide-bearing minerals. These results will shed new light on volcanic cloud dynamics and add new parameters for atmospheric models, which currently only address effects of mineral dust as ice nuclei and overlook the potential role of volcanic ash.