FTIR evidence is provided for the identification of [H2OCl](+) as an intermediate in the ionization of chlorine nitrate on water-ice at the stratospherically relevant temperature, 180 K. The result has important implications for the mechanism by which chlorine is reactivated by polar stratospheric clouds and suggests that the function of water molecules is to reduce the activation energy-barrier for chlorine nitrate bond cleavage on the ice.