Microcline reveals how a common mineral surface triggers ice formation in clouds

Pure water freezes only at around -38°C (-36°F). Tiny mineral dust particles act as so-called ice nucleators—crystallization seeds on which ice crystals form. A research team at Bielefeld University and the University of Vienna, in cooperation with researchers at the University of Helsinki, has now demonstrated for the first time at the molecular scale why the mineral microcline is particularly effective at forming ice in clouds. The study, published in published in the journal Nature Communications, provides a new explanation for processes that influence climate and precipitation worldwide.