Molecular dynamics simulations were made of the trapping–desorption and surface penetration of Ar atoms on the surface of ice-Ih. At a surface temperature of 180K, 64% of the trapped atoms obeyed an ordinary first-order desorption process, with a rate constant of 2.1 x 1010/s, while 36% penetrated the surface and diffused into sub-surface interstitial sites as a result of a thermally produced disorder in the topmost bilayer of the crystal. The surface penetration process provided a mechanism for the rapid incorporation of reactants into the lattice.

Trapping–Desorption and Surface Penetration of Argon on Ice. K.Bolton, J.B.C.Pettersson: Chemical Physics Letters, 1999, 312[2-4], 71-6