The limit of metastability of water under tension: theories and experiments

Herbert, Éric; Caupin, Frédéric

doi:10.1088/0953-8984/17/45/053

Cited by 22 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…In conclusion, cavitation caused loss of conductance in the xylem of Taxus segments at pressures below −5 MPa whether measured at 1°C or 20°C. At 20°C cavitation was caused by a loss of adhesion between water and the conduit walls because loss of cohesion between water molecules occurred at pressured below −20 MPa (Briggs, 1950;Herbert & Caupin, 2005). Our results imply that cavitation also occurred by loss of water adhesion to walls at 1°C in agreement with recent estimates of water tensile strength at low temperature (Herbert & Caupin, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…According to Briggs' data, below 5°C, vulnerability to cavitation in Taxus should have increased because P 50 should always remain less negative than P cav of water. Our experiment does not support this hypothesis, which is consistent with more recent determination of tensile strength of water at low temperature in which the negative pressure develops away from any wall (open symbols, after Herbert & Caupin, 2005).…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 82%

“…Recently, Herbert & Caupin (2005) used an acoustic method to study cavitation. Thanks to a focused ultrasonic wave, they were able to investigate a small volume of degassed ultrapure water.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cavitation in plants at low temperature: is sap transport limited by the tensile strength of water as expected from Briggs’ Z‐tube experiment?

et al. 2006

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Summary• Xylem cavitation in plants is thought to be caused by a loss of adhesion at the conduit wall surface because a rupture in the body of the water column was implicitly ruled out by an experiment by Lyman J. Briggs with Z-tube capillaries. However, Briggs reported a drastic increase in cavitation pressure of water below 5 ° C which, if it were also true in xylem conduits, would suggest that water transport in plants could be limited by water cohesion at low temperature.• In this study we have repeated Briggs' experiment using stem segments. Xylem vulnerability curves were obtained with a centrifuge technique at 1, 25 and 50 ° C on yew ( Taxus baccata ).• Contrary to Briggs' finding, vulnerability to cavitation, measured as per cent loss conductance, did not increase sharply at 1 ° C and was even less than at 25 ° C and 50 ° C. Moreover, the onset of cavitation in yew at 1 ° C was measured at a much more negative pressure than Briggs' value.• This points out an artefact in Brigg's experiment at low temperature possibly related to imperfections in the tube walls which act as cavitation nuclei.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 82%

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Cavitation in plants at low temperature: is sap transport limited by the tensile strength of water as expected from Briggs’ Z‐tube experiment?

et al. 2006

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“…The TMD of water is shifted to higher temperature from 315.64 down to 317.69 K. The phenomenon of liquid water under negative pressure ("stretched" water or "water under tension") was discussed in detail, by Angell, Speedy, Stanley and others. [20][21][22][23][24][25][26] In this negative pressure region of the phase diagram the system is metastable, and becomes unstable beyond the spinodal line. If we further increase the negative pressure the liquid continuous to stretch.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Importance of Tetrahedrally Coordinated Molecules for the Explanation of Liquid Water Properties

Ludwig

2007

ChemPhysChem

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Ab initio calculations on molecular clusters and a quantum statistical model are used to probe the structure of liquid water and its anomalies. Characteristic temperature dependent mixtures of ring and three-dimensional, voluminous water clusters provide the famous density maximum. The mixture model also reproduces the shift of the density maximum as a function of pressure and isotopic substitution. This finding is consistent with femtosecond spectroscopy data suggesting that two distinct molecular species exist in liquid water. The given structures also reproduce the oxygen-oxygen pair correlation function and the vibrational IR spectrum of liquid water. The results underline the importance of three-dimensional, tetrahedrally coordinated structures for the understanding of water anomalies and the existence of two liquid phases in the supercooled region.

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“…Although cavitation renders xylem conduits useless for transporting water under tension, the activation energy needed to nucleate a phase change is large (Pickard, 1981). Stability limits for homogeneous nucleation, based on theoretical and experimental data, are on the order of −100 MPa (Zheng et al, 1991;Herbert and Caupin, 2005;Azouzi et al, 2013). Thus, water in the xylem is kinetically stable provided it does not come into contact with the vapor phase (Wheeler and Stroock, 2008).…”

Section: Stability Of Water Under Tension In the Xylemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sap flow and sugar transport in plants

et al. 2016

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Green plants are Earth's primary solar energy collectors. They harvest the energy of the Sun by converting light energy into chemical energy stored in the bonds of sugar molecules. A multitude of carefully orchestrated transport processes are needed to move water and minerals from the soil to sites of photosynthesis and to distribute energy-rich sugars throughout the plant body to support metabolism and growth. The long-distance transport happens in the plants' vascular system, where water and solutes are moved along the entire length of the plant. In this review, the current understanding of the mechanism and the quantitative description of these flows are discussed, connecting theory and experiments as far as possible. The article begins with an overview of low-Reynolds-number transport processes, followed by an introduction to the anatomy and physiology of vascular transport in the phloem and xylem. Next, sugar transport in the phloem is explored with attention given to experimental results as well as the fluid mechanics of osmotically driven flows. Then water transport in the xylem is discussed with a focus on embolism dynamics, conduit optimization, and couplings between water and sugar transport. Finally, remarks are given on some of the open questions of this research field.

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The limit of metastability of water under tension: theories and experiments

Cited by 22 publications

References 23 publications

Cavitation in plants at low temperature: is sap transport limited by the tensile strength of water as expected from Briggs’ Z‐tube experiment?

Cavitation in plants at low temperature: is sap transport limited by the tensile strength of water as expected from Briggs’ Z‐tube experiment?

The Importance of Tetrahedrally Coordinated Molecules for the Explanation of Liquid Water Properties

Sap flow and sugar transport in plants

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