Model of a surface liquid-like layer of ice

The previously developed model of an intermediate phase of ice with a liquid system of hydrogen bonds has been applied to describe a quasiliquid surface layer. This approach leads to a two-component model of a quasiliquid ice surface layer. In the outer part of the layer, both the proton and oxygen sublattices are melted, constituting water or the Thomson sublayer. In the inner part of the layer, only the proton sublattice is melted, whereas the oxygen sublattice holds its structure (the liquid state of the system of hydrogen bonds or the Faraday sublayer). The proposed model gives correct-in-magnitude estimates of various physical characteristics of the layer, explains the contradiction between the Faraday and Thomson hypotheses, and is consistent with recent experimental results and numerical studies.