A Fourth ‘Enigmatic’ Type Of Water That Might Develop On Alien Planets Discovered

In typical circumstances, water is found in three states: solid (ice), liquid (water), and gas (vapor or steam). Textbooks have educated us on this for years, yet outside the scope of human life on Earth—within the extraterrestrial realm, a unique type of water known as plastic ice VII may exist. Multiple theoretical models previously suggested the existence of ‘plastic ice VII,’ but for the first time, researchers have concrete evidence of its presence.

A global group of researchers at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in France has recently produced plastic ice VII by compressing water to pressures of 6 gigapascals and raising its temperature to 327C (620F), employing high-quality instruments, as noted in the study.

The research group employed quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS), a technique that monitors the motion of small particles such as hydrogen atoms. This validated a 17-year-old forecast that hydrogen atoms in Ice VII rotate at a microscopic scale when exposed to elevated temperatures and pressure.

“The ability of QENS to probe both the translational and rotational dynamics is a unique advantage for the exploration of such exotic phase transitions compared to other spectroscopic techniques,” said physicist Maria Rescigno associated with the study.

Plastic ice VII has properties of both liquid water and solid ice, hence the name. It has a unique interwoven structure when the hydrogen atoms are somewhat disordered.

“The QENS measurements suggested a different molecular rotation mechanism for plastic ice VII than the free rotor behaviour initially expected,” added Ms Rescigno.

However, it remains unclear what happens to this structure when it “melts,” with some theories suggesting the molecules stay in place while the hydrogen atoms move around.

As per the researchers, even the icy planets in our solar system such as Neptune, Uranus or Jupiter’s moon Europa, might have harboured plastic ice VII in the past. The findings could further help the understanding of the geodynamics of icy planets and the differentiation processes of large icy moons.