If a small amount of water were frozen a mile below the surface and released, would it float to the top? Why?

Question

ok, thanks. I thought maybe that since water is much more dense a mile below the surface that in turn the ice created there would also be more dense than ice formed at the surface. I assume this is not the case.

Answer 1

ice is less dense than water. ice molecules are rigid and water molecules are more active, and the general distance from one water H2O molecule to another is closer than that of one Ice H2O Molecule

Answer 2

I assume you mean "below the surface of the ocean"

Water does two things when it "freezes":

1) It goes from liquid to solid form, making crystals

2) The solid form expands to take up more room than the liquid form.

Now, if the pressure at one mile down is sufficiently great, then the solid form CAN'T expand.  In that case it will not "freeze".  It will remain at 32 degrees (or lower) but it will NOT take on its solid form, because that is prevented by the water pressure at that depth.

IF you took an ice cube down to that depth in a submarine, then somehow released it outside the submarine, it would be crushed, returning to its liquid form, and  just become like the rest of the ocean.

At some points in the ocean water is at 32-degrees F. or lower, but remains liquid because the pressure won't let it expand into the solid, crystalline form.

But let's assume that you COULD take an ice cube down to that depth and release it.  Because water ice expands, it by definition displaces less liquid water than its volume. So ice floats, and the ice you released would try to float to the surface.

In the process of floating to the surface, it would absorb the heat (temperature difference) from the water surrounding, and begin to melt.

It would probably not make it to the surface as a single block of ice, but that would depend on how big a "small amount of water" is . . . .

Answer 3

First of all, ice floats because ice takes up more volume than water. However, how small of an amount are you talking about? Obviously an ice cube would melt in the time for it to reach the surface, while an ice berg would eventually float all the way up.

Answer 4

While it's true that normal ice would float as it is always less dense than liquid water, there are other phases of ice that form at high pressure.

Some of these ice types have densities greater than that of liquid water, and will not float in it.

However, a mile below the surface (of water), the pressure is about 15MPa, which is insufficient to produce the other ice phases (the lowest seems to be about 300MPa).

Answer 5

No, unless you mean in the water. It would float because of the density of ice.

Answer 6

yes, because it floats

Answer 7

Yes; it would float to the surface.  When water freezes, it expands, this displaces more water than the weight of the ice, which makes the ice less dense than the water; so, it floats!

Answer 8

yo do realize the ice would melt right away because of the temperature down there right?

Answer 9

It should given that ice has a lower density than water, there are the conditions that as it rises there will occur pressure changes and the ice may essentially explode, and as it rises more light will be able to penetrate causes a temperature change.  

There are a lot of factors, but I don't see any of them somehow stopping the ice from technically reaching the surface.