We
measured velocities V
step of lateral
displacement of individual elementary steps on an ice basal face,
for the first time, by advanced optical microscopy, under various
bulk water vapor pressure P
H2O
∞. Distances L between adjacent spiral steps exhibited considerable variation
under constant P
H2O
∞. Hence, we analyzed V
step as functions of L and P
H2O
∞. Then we found that (1) under a constant P
H2O
∞, V
step decreased with decreasing distances L when L ≤ 15 μm and that V
step remained constant when L ≥ 15 μm. We named V
step of L ≥ 15 μm (isolated steps) V
step
int and analyzed dependencies of V
step
int on P
H2O
∞. Then we found that (2) the slope of the V
step
int vs P
H2O
∞ plot gradually decreased with increasing P
H2O
∞. We proposed a model that took into account both the volume diffusion
of water vapor molecules and the surface diffusion of water admolecules
on a terrace. Our model could explain result (1) mainly by the competition
of adjacent spiral steps for water admolecules diffusing on a terrace
but could not explain the result (2) satisfactorily.