A note on electrical freezing and shorting potentials

Electrical potentials developed by charge separation during freezing of water and dilute CaCl2 solutions were studied in the laboratory, using gold-plated copper electrodes placed across the freezing boundary. A sudden increase in the potential occurs when the freezing front reaches an electrode. A shorting potential was observed at the electrodes when the freezing front advanced past the reference electrode. The magnitude of the freezing and shorting potentials is of the order of a few hundred millivolts. This technique can be used to detect and monitor the movement of freeze–thaw boundaries in water and moist soils.