Automatic reconstruction of polycrystalline ice microstructure from image analysis: application to the EPICA ice core at Dome Concordia, Antarctica

A digital image-processing approach is proposed which allows the extraction of two-dimensional polycrystalline ice microstructure (grain boundaries) from thin sections observed between cross-polarisers. It is based on image segmentation of colour images. The method is applied to the preliminary analysis of the shallow (Holocene) ice of the European Project for Ice Caring in Antarctica (EPICA) ice core at Dome Concordia. Structural parameters, such as the mean cross-sectional area, shape anisotropy and grain morphology, are obtained. The interest and limitations of this automatic procedure are discussed.