Alkali-carbonate rock reaction

Length change of concrete due to alkali-carbonate rock reaction ASTM C1105... 

Limestones generally do not contain sufficient reactive silica or silicates to cause expansion, and damaging alkali-carbonate reaction has rarely been reported. The reactions involving carbonate rocks can be either expansive or non-expansive and are more likely to occur when the limestone contains appreciable quantities of dolomite and clay minerals [8.1]. ASTM C586 [8.8] gives a test method for determining the potential alkali reactivity of carbonate rock aggregates. 

Alkali-carbonate reaction is a reaction which can occur under certain conditions between sodium and potassium hydroxides in cement and carbonate rocks (see section 8.3.6). 

Certain carbonated rocks participate in reactions with alkalis that, in some instances, produce detrimental expansion and cracking. These detrimental alkali-carbonate reactions are usually associated with argillaceous dolomitic limestones that have a very fine-grained structure (ACI 2007). 

The resulting Soln. C is a predominantly NaCl solution similar to terrestrial seawater (Soln. D, Table 5.3). Had we chosen a concentration factor of 600-fold, the agreement would have been even better. In any case, the concentration factor is arbitrary. The point is that simple processes, starting with a dilute Fe-Mg-HC03-rich solution formed by reaction of water with ultra-mafic and mafic rocks, evaporation, and carbonate precipitation, converted the solution into an Earth-like seawater NaCl brine. The Na/Mg ratio of solution C is 9.9, while terrestrial seawater has a Na/Mg ratio of 8.8 (Soln. 5.3D). Note also the similar pH values (8.03 and 8.05, Table 5.3). This solution did not (cannot) evolve into an alkali soda-lake composition as some have hypothesized or assumed for Mars (e.g., Kempe and Kazmierczak 1997 Morse and Marion 1999) because the mass of hypothesized soluble iron and magnesium and the low solubility of their respective carbonate minerals are sufficient to precipitate most of the initial soluble bicarbonate/carbonate ions. 

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