单项选择题

A piece of first-year ice will taste salty. Eventually, if the ice survives, these pockets of brine drain out through fine, veinlike channels, and the ice becomes fresher; multiyear ice can even be melted and drunk. In the context in which it appears, "fine" most nearly means

A. acceptable.
B. elegant.
C. precise.
D. pure.
E. small.