  Deeply inside dense molecular clouds and protostellar disks, the interstellar
ices are protected from stellar energetic UV photons. However, X-rays and
energetic cosmic rays can penetrate inside these regions triggering chemical
reactions, molecular dissociation and evaporation processes. We present
experimental studies on the interaction of heavy, highly charged and energetic
ions (46 MeV Ni^13+) with ammonia-containing ices in an attempt to simulate the
physical chemistry induced by heavy ion cosmic rays inside dense astrophysical
environments. The measurements were performed inside a high vacuum chamber
coupled to the heavy ion accelerator GANIL (Grand Accelerateur National d'Ions
Lourds) in Caen, France.\textit{In-situ} analysis is performed by a Fourier
transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) at different fluences. The averaged
values for the dissociation cross section of water, ammonia and carbon monoxide
due to heavy cosmic ray ion analogs are ~2x10^{-13}, 1.4x10^{-13} and
1.9x10^{-13} cm$^2$, respectively. In the presence of a typical heavy cosmic
ray field, the estimated half life for the studied species is 2-3x10^6 years.
The ice compaction (micropore collapse) due to heavy cosmic rays seems to be at
least 3 orders of magnitude higher than the one promoted by (0.8 MeV) protons .
In the case of the irradiated H2O:NH3:CO ice, the infrared spectrum at room
temperature reveals five bands that were tentatively assigned to vibration
modes of the zwitterionic glycine (+NH3CH2COO-).
