Extraction and parametrization of grain boundary networks in glacier ice,using a dedicated method of automatic image analysis

Microstructure analysis of polar ice cores is vital to understand the processes controlling the flow of polar ice on the microscale. This paper presents an automatic image processing framework for extraction and parametrization of grain boundary networks from images of the NEEM deep ice core. As cross‐section images are acquired using controlled surface sublimation, grain boundaries and air inclusions appear dark, whereas the inside of grains appears grey. The initial segmentation step of the software is to separate possible boundaries of grains and air inclusions from background. A Machine learning approach is utilized to gain automatic, reliable classification, which is required for processing large data sets along deep ice cores. The second step is to compose the perimeter of section profiles of grains by planar sections of the grain surface between triple points. Ultimately, grain areas, grain boundaries and triple junctions of the later are diversely parametrized. High resolution is achieved, so that small grain sizes and local curvatures of grain boundaries can systematically be investigated.     

The use of combined cathodoluminescence and EBSD analysis: a case study investigating grain boundary migration mechanisms in quartz

Grain boundary migration is an important mechanism of microstructural modification both in rocks and in metals. Combining detailed cathodoluminescence (CL) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis offers the opportunity to relate directly changes in crystallographic orientation to migrating boundaries. We observe the following features in naturally heated quartz grains from the thermal aureole of the Ballachulish Igneous Complex (Scotland, U.K.): (a) propagation of substructures and twin boundaries in swept areas both parallel and at an angle to the growth direction, (b) development of slightly different crystallographic orientations and new twin boundaries at both the growth interfaces and within the swept area and (c) a gradual change in crystallographic orientation in the direction of growth. All these features are compatible with a growth mechanism in which single atoms are attached and detached both at random and at preferential sites, i.e. crystallographically controlled sites or kinks in boundary ledges. Additionally, strain fields caused by defects and/or trace element incorporation may facilitate nucleation sites for new crystallographic orientations at distinct growth interfaces but also at continuously migrating boundaries. This study illustrates the usefulness of combined CL and EBSD in microprocess analysis. Further work in this direction may provide detailed insight into both the mechanism of static grain growth and the energies and mobilities of boundaries in terms of misorientation and grain boundary plane orientation.