Hydrodynamic Instability Induces Spontaneous Motion of Floating Ice Discs

Hydrodynamic Instability Induces Spontaneous Motion of Floating Ice Discs | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Hydrodynamic Instability Induces Spontaneous Motion of Floating Ice Discs Min Li, Lailai Zhu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8140108/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Spinning ice discs in nature have been reported for more than a century, yet laboratory experiments have yielded diverse observations and contradictory explanations, leaving the mechanism behind the disc motion elusive. Here we combine numerical simulations and scaling analysis to investigate a freely-moving ice disc in a lab-scale water tank. We observe the disc remaining stationary or experiencing spontaneous motion, depending on the disc-water temperature difference and water depth. The motion is initiated by a buoyancy-driven, downward plume arising from water’s density anomaly---its density peaks near 4 degrees. Crucially, the plume breaks rotational and mirror symmetries after descending beyond a critical distance due to a thermoconvective instability, thereby inducing the disc to move autonomously. Our findings quantitatively unify disc behaviors observed across independent experiments and establish a predictive criterion for the onset of disc motion. More broadly, we point to a route for thermally-driven transport: coupling of bulk thermoconvection and moving bodies, relevant to geophysical processes such as continental drift and iceberg capsizing. Plasma and Fluids Ice disc hydrodynamic instability Rayleigh-Taylor instability thermoconvection thermally-driven flow spontaneous motion Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8140108","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":546628225,"identity":"74325df2-729b-44ca-a46c-04e63ea18ae3","order_by":0,"name":"Min Li","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5785-6617","institution":"National University of Singapore","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Min","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":546628339,"identity":"44f9cc0b-57d5-41b5-8e62-c1e356b22a9c","order_by":1,"name":"Lailai Zhu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA+0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACPgbGxgMMBgxAxHwAInSAgBY2BsYGqBa2BGK1QNUYMPAYEKmF/XDDgR8FDPbmEjnfHvP8YZDju5HA/PELPi08iQ0He4AesZyRu92Yt43BWPJGApu0DF6HJTYcADqJzeBG7jZp3gaGxA1ALcwS+LTwP2w4+AfkkRs5z6SBDqsHamH+jFeLRGLDYaAtEkAtbNI8bAwJBjcSGCQ/4NXysOGwjAGDgcGZZ2aSc9skDGeeedgmjUcHAz9/+sOHb/4w2BscT34m8eaPjTzf8eTDH3/g0wMB/2EMkCcYG5h5CGtBA4xE2DIKRsEoGAUjBwAAM3ZKZQnTBDIAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3443-0709","institution":"National University of Singapore","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lailai","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhu","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-11-18 02:44:28","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8140108/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8140108/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":96252840,"identity":"95b78ca1-f773-49d9-87cb-0c50a94909c1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-19 07:41:31","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3870526,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"rotatingicediscMLLZ.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8140108/v1_covered_422db34f-84d2-4b22-a36d-11cf596aceae.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eHydrodynamic Instability Induces Spontaneous Motion of Floating Ice Discs\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"National University of Singapore","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Ice disc, hydrodynamic instability, Rayleigh-Taylor instability, thermoconvection, thermally-driven flow, spontaneous motion ","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8140108/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8140108/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSpinning ice discs in nature have been reported for more than a century, yet laboratory experiments have yielded diverse observations and contradictory \u0026nbsp;explanations, leaving the mechanism behind the disc motion elusive. 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