Snow Metamorphism
Dry Metamorphism:
- Driven by water vapor movement in pores
- Vapor movement is driven by vapor pressure gradient, controlled by:
- temperature: saturation vapor pressure depends on temperature; warmer areas can hold more vapor than colder areas
- radius of curvature: how curved a particular part of a snow grain is; increased radius of curvature, increased vapor density
- grain size: decreased grain size, increased radius of curvature, therefore increased vapor density