Planetary satellites such as the Jovian moon Europa and several Kuiper Belt objects (including Pluto) have surfaces consisting largely of H2<\/sub>O ice, which is brittle and behaves as a rock at the low temperatures that prevail in the outer Solar System. Several of those ice-crusted bodies show evidence of tectonic activity indicating high levels of stress. This paper reports on laboratory experiments with pure H2<\/sub>O ice and H2<\/sub>O2<\/sub>\u2013doped H2<\/sub>O ices with H2<\/sub>O2<\/sub>\u00a0concentration levels comparable to those in the ices of Europa. Elongated rectangular ice blocks at\u00a0T<\/em>\u00a0=\u00a0\u221281\u00a0\u00b0C [192\u00a0K] were stressed at one end to test whether electric currents are generated and capable of flowing down the stress gradient. Pure H2<\/sub>O ice was found to not produce currents above the 10\u221210<\/sup>\u00a0A background level except for occasional transients in the 10\u22129<\/sup>\u201310\u22128<\/sup>\u00a0A range during fracture or rapid plastic deformation due to electrons, e\u2019. By contrast, stressing H2<\/sub>O2<\/sub>-doped H2<\/sub>O ices consistently produced electric currents in the 10\u22127<\/sup>\u201310\u22125<\/sup>\u00a0A range, due to holes, h\u2022<\/sup>, propagating from the stressed end to the unstressed end. The h\u2022<\/sup>\u00a0charge carriers are generated by the break-up of peroxy bonds of H2<\/sub>O2<\/sub>\u00a0molecules, leading to O\u2212<\/sup>, equivalent to defect electrons or holes h\u2022<\/sup>\u00a0in the O2\u2212<\/sup>\u00a0matrix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Water ice, Stress-induced electric currents, Hydrogen peroxide doping, Peroxy defects, Positive hole charge carriers, Electrical conductivity, Stress gradients<\/p>\n\n\n\n FriedemannT. Freund, Jaufray Sornette, Corey Stockburger, Cary T. Keller, Amber Gray, Dale P. Cruikshank (2021) Stress-activated electric currents in icy planetary bodies: H2O2-doped H2O ices, Icarus, Volume 358, 2021, 114157, ISSN 0019-1035, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.icarus.2020.114157<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nKeywords<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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