Calcium carbonate structure

Stromatoliths are large columnar calcium carbonate structures produced by cyanobacteria and can occur in many forms. 

The uptake of plutonium by bone has received considerable attention as irradiation of bone marrow has been associated with leukaemia-type diseases. As Durbin (192) has observed the uptake of plutonium into mineralised material is not restricted to mammals but can occur in any creature, invertebrate or vertebrate, which contains calcium phosphate or calcium carbonate structures. It can be expected that the trivalent actinides will also deposit in similar material. 

Figure 2(C) is the result of a calculation that illustrates which cations might fit into sixfold coordination position in the calcite group structures. It is an interesting insight as both light and heavy rare earth elements are possible substitutes for calcium in the calcium carbonate structure, i.e., they plot within 15% of the calcium ionic size. However, some of the end-members incorporate elements into this crystal structure and are outside this deviation but within 30%, an expression of the potential physical expansion for this layered crystal structure. These are ionic charge differences important in whether a stable crystalline structure can be produced. Trace amounts of all these ions can be incorporated in calcite and may dictate the morphology of the crystallites. Therefore, the presence and amount of any ions in the environment in which carbonate crystallization occurs may possibly be recorded. However, in spite of the predominance of sodium and potassium in the solutions where...

The polyps secrete calcium carbonate to make their shells or skeletons. When the polyps die, the calcium carbonate structures remain and accumulate over time to form a reef This reef building is possible because calcium carbonate is only slightly soluble in water. 

Microbial micritization. Many organisms bore into carbonate deposits. The most important one is cyanobacteria, but others include cliona sponges, bivalves, polychaetes and fungi. The bore-holes become filled with a calcium carbonate structure called micrite, which typically forms an envelope around... 

Regular surface-rehef calcium carbonate structures were prepared by a cooperated directing agent of soluble poly(acryhc acid) (PAA, Mw = 2000) and a substrate of cholesterol-bearing pullulans (Fig. 15) [231]. At low temperature, adapted PAA concentration, and with cholesteryl groups, a high quality periodic calcite structure can be formed by a self-organization process in the reaction-diffusion system with competition between precipitation and ion diffusion. 

The most common fillers used in rubber base formulations will be briefly described. On the basis of their chemical structure, these fillers may be classified in five broad groups silicates, silicas, metal oxides, calcium carbonate, and carbon blacks. 

Various additives and fillers may be employed. Calcium carbonate, talc, carbon black, titanium dioxide, and wollastonite are commonly used as fillers. Plasticizers are often utilized also. Plasticizers may reduce viscosity and may help adhesion to certain substrates. Thixotropes such as fumed silica, structured clays, precipitated silica, PVC powder, etc. can be added. Adhesion promoters, such as silane coupling agents, may also be used in the formulation [69]. 

Calcium-binding proteins, 6, 564, 572, 596 intestinal, 6, 576 structure, 6, 573 Calcium carbonate calcium deposition as, 6, 597 Calcium complexes acetylacetone, 2, 372 amides, 2,164 amino acids, 3, 33 arsine oxides, 3, 9 biology, 6, 549 bipyridyl, 3, 13 crown ethers, 3, 39 dimethylphthalate, 3, 16 enzyme stabilization, 6, 549 hydrates, 3, 7 ionophores, 3, 66 malonic acid, 2, 444 peptides, 3, 33 phosphines, 3, 9 phthalocyanines, 2,863 porphyrins, 2, 820 proteins, 2, 770 pyridine oxide, 3,9 Schiff bases, 3, 29 urea, 3, 9... 

Calcium is also found in the rigid structural components of living organisms, either as the calcium carbonate of the shells of shellfish or the calcium phosphate... 

The amount of calcium carbonate precipitating from any particular drop is imperceptibly small. Nevertheless, over the years, these deposits grow into translucent hollow tubes of CaC03 called soda straws (see photo inset). Soda straws lengthen as water drops fall from their tips. These delicate structures can reach lengths of several feet. In time, water flowing over the outside of the tube adds width to the growing formation, and the soda straw matures into the familiar stalactite. 

Spherical vaterite crystals were obtained with 4-mercaptobenzoic acid protected gold nanoparticles as the nucleation template by the carbonate diffusion method [51]. The crystallization of calcium carbonate in the absence of the 4-MBA capped gold nanoparticles resulted in calcite crystals. This indicates that the polymorphs of CaCOj were controlled by the acid-terminated gold nanoparticles. This result indicates that the rigid carboxylic acid structures can play a role in initiating the nucleation of vaterite as in the case of the G4.5 PAMAM dendrimer described above. 

Examples of reversible breakdown of structure have been reported for procaine penicillin dispersions (7), for model systems of calcium carbonate in polybutene ( ), and for numerous other systems. During shear the particles are forced into contact with each other with sufficient kinetic energy to overcome any natural barrier against their displacement of a lyosphere around each individual particle. A dispersion which is inherently stable can thus be forced by shear into a condition of instability. 

The formation of hard skeletal structures that give some life forms their shape is a consequence of calcium. Simply said, the shells of lower organisms are generally made up of brittle calcium carbonate and the interior skeletons of higher animals are made up of tough calcium phosphate. 

Marble. The word marble is used as the common name for two types of monomineral rocks one derived from limestone and therefore composed of calcium carbonate, the other derived from dolomite and composed of calcium magnesium carbonate. Extremely high pressures and heat during past geological times modified the structure of both limestone and dolomite, compacting them into a characteristic crystal structure. Most marble is white however, minor and trace amounts of metallic impurities cause the formation of stains in a variety of colors, hues, and patterns, or of colored marble. 

The composition of the particles is related to that of the source rocks. Quartz sand [composed of silica (silicon dioxide)], which makes up the most common variety of silica sand, is derived from quartz rocks. Pure quartz is usually almost free of impurities and therefore almost colorless (white). The coloration of some silica sand is due to chemical impurities within the structure of the quartz. The common buff, brown, or gray, for example, is caused by small amounts of metallic oxides iron oxide makes the sand buff or brown, whereas manganese dioxide makes it gray. Other minerals that often also occur as sand are calcite, feldspar and obsidian Calcite (composed of calcium carbonate), is generally derived from weathered limestone or broken shells or coral feldspar is an igneous rock of complex composition, and obsidian is a natural glass derived from the lava erupting from volcanoes see Chapter 2. 

Limestone varieties differ greatly from one another in their texture and the impurities they contain, and consequently they also differ in color. The color of limestone may vary from white (when it contains practically no impurities) to off-white and even to intensely colored. Minor inclusions within the limestone structure are often of silica, usually in a concentration below 5%, as well as feldspar and clay in still lesser amounts. Many types of limestone also include embedded fossils. Much limestone deposits in the outer crust of the earth are altered during geologic metamorphic processes that involve mainly pressure and heat but also liquids and gases. Marble, for example, a metamorphic rock derived from calcium carbonate, is white when composed only of this substance colored metal ions and other impurities impart to marble a wide range of colors such as red, yellow, and green and also give... 

The bones and teeth of humans and other vertebrate animals, for example, consist mainly of a composite material made up of an organic substance, collagen, and a biomineral, calcium carbonate phosphate (see Textboxes 32 and 61). The latter, which makes up about two-thirds of the total dry weight of bone, is composed of calcium phosphate containing between 4-6% calcite (composed of calcium carbonate) as well as small amounts of sodium, magnesium, fluorine, and other trace elements. The formula Ca HPChXPChMCChXOH) approximately represents its composition its crystal structure is akin to that... 

Wei S-H, Mahuli S K, Agnihotri R, Fan L-S (1997) High surface area calcium carbonate pore structural properties and sulfation characteristic. Ind Eng Chem Res 36(6) 2141-2148... 

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