Diagenesis calcium carbonates

Carbonate minerals are among the most chemically reactive common minerals under Earth surface conditions. Many important features of carbonate mineral behavior in sediments and during diagenesis are a result of their unique kinetics of dissolution and precipitation. Although the reaction kinetics of several carbonate minerals have been investigated, the vast majority of studies have focused on calcite and aragonite. Before examining data and models for calcium carbonate dissolution and precipitation reactions in aqueous solutions, a brief summary of the major concepts involved will be presented. Here we will not deal with the details of proposed reaction mechanisms and the associated complex rate equations. These have been examined in extensive review articles (e.g., Plummer et al., 1979 Morse, 1983) and where appropriate will be developed in later chapters. 

The precipitation of calcium carbonate (usually, but not exclusively, from petrographic evidence in the form of high-magnesian calcite, e.g., Alexandersson and Milliman, 1981) is generally inferred from a decrease in dissolved pore water calcium (e.g., Thorstenson and Mackenzie, 1974 Aller et al., 1986 Gaillard et al., 1986). Most studies of the impact of chemical diagenesis on the carbonate... 

Reaves (1986) described another study specifically aimed at relating calcium carbonate preservation to chemical diagenesis in sediments. He compared Mercinaria shells and pore water chemistry in intertidal mud flat and tidal creek... 

Bathurst R.G.C. (1974) Marine diagenesis of shallow water calcium carbonate sediments. Ann. Rev. Earth and Planet. Sci. 2, 257-274. 

Diagenesis of carbonates in the deep sea almost exclusively involves the dissolution of calcium carbonate, where only 20-30% of the flux to the seafloor is preserved (Archer, 1996a). As such, it is primarily reflected in large variations in the... 

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