The structural effect of salt concentration and freezing rate on icy grains relevant to moons and their ejecta.

Icy moons are leading candidates for habitability in our Solar System. Plumes exist on some of these ocean-bearing moons, where ocean material is ejected out into space as ice grains. These ice grains currently provide our best probe of potentially habitable oceans beyond Earth; however, the formation and structure of these icy brine grains are not understood. These grains are known to contain vein structures of salt networks within an ice matrix. We intend to use the unique capabilities of NIMROD to characterise vein materials within icy moon-relevant ice grains, and the degree to which they are segregated from icy matrix material. This will lead to better understanding of the properties of icy moon-relevant ice grains and the conditions under which vein material can form within them.