Chemical weathering carbonate minerals

Sulfate, halide, and carbonate minerals form in mine waste as a result of chemical weathering reactions and as a by-product of mineral processing. The formation of carbonate minerals is of particular interest for its potential in offsetting greenhouse gas emissions associated with mining. We have documented secondary carbonate mineral precipitation at the Mount Keith Nickel Mine (Western Australia) and the... 

The chemical weathering of crustal rock was discussed in Chapter 14 from the perspective of clay mineral formation. It was shown that acid attack of igneous silicates produces dissolved ions and a weathered solid residue, called a clay mineral. Examples of these weathering reactions were shown in Table 14.1 using CO2 + H2O as the acid (carbonic acid). Other minerals that undergo terrestrial weathering include the evaporites, biogenic carbonates, and sulfides. Their contributions to the major ion content of river water are shown in Table 21.1. 

As the rock cycle continues, the calcium silicate minerals are eventually uplifted onto land where they imdergo chemical weathering. This reaction involves acid hydrolysis driven by carbonic acid. The latter is derived from the dissolution of the magmatic CO2 in rainwater ... 

Many technical-chemical processes take maximum benefit of similarities with ongoing processes in Nature, with increased purity or reaction speed as the most important differences. The production of carbonates is a typical example of this, and the process of C02 mineralization for carbon capture and storage (CCS) (see Section 14.4) is in fact the accelerated version of what is known as the natural weathering of minerals. This is a combination of the interacting processes of mechanical and chemical weathering, and relevant to the current discussions are the chemical weathering processes of dissolution and hydrolysis that involve C02 [6, 7]. A dissolution equilibrium reaction that proceeds in Nature with dissolved C02 in water and calcite gives a bicarbonate solution ... 

Chemical weathering The conversion of minerals and other rock components into new, usually finer-grained materials through chemical reactions that typically involve water, natural acids, salts, carbon dioxide, and/or oxygen (compare with weathering and physical weathering). 

Rainwater is essentially free of mineral solutes. It is usually slightly acidic due to the presence of dissolved carbon dioxide, or more highly acidic because of acid rain-forming constituents. As a result of its slight acidity and lack of alkalinity and dissolved calcium salts, rainwater is chemically aggressive toward some kinds of mineral matter, which it breaks down by a process called chemical weathering. 

Chemical weathering dominant form breakdown of rocks and minerals at moderate pressures and temperatures due to combined action of water, carbon dioxide and oxygen. 

The various rocks and associated minerals show different degrees of resistance to chemical weathering and the order of resistance is carbonates, sulphides < silicates < oxides. 

Acid Hydrolysis. The water that enters soil as rain or snow is in equilibrium with CO2 in the atmosphere, which dissolves to form carbonic acid. Unpolluted rainwater has a pH of approximately 5.7, whereas water in soil pores may be exposed to air containing a higher partial pressure of CO2 than the free atmosphere, and hence soil water may be more acidic (see Section 5.4). It is the attack on soil minerals by this weak carbonic acid that is the major chemical weathering process in most soils. For example, acid hydrolysis of calcium carbonate yields calcium and bicarbonate ions ... 

In this chapter we discuss the rates of adsorption, paying special attention to those few cases where information on the rate of specific adsorption (reaction of an adsorbate in the adsorption layer) is available. Furthermore, we elaborate on the chemical processes involved in the dissolution of minerals and concentrate on the dissolution of oxides, silicates, and carbonates, which play an enormous rx)le in the chemical weathering and erosion. We try to demonstrate that in most cases the rate-determining step in the dissolution is a chemical reaction at the surface of the mineral. Thus we have here an excellent example of the relationship between surface stracture and reactivity. Surface chemistry plays an equally important role in the formation of the solid phase (precipitation, nucleation, and crystal growth). Nature s selectivity is reflected in the creation of a crystal and its growth. 

Chemical weathering involves the break down of rock by chemical reactions. The mineral composition of the rock is changed, reorganized, or redistributed. For example, minerals that contain iron may react with oxygen in the air. Water in which carbon dioxide is dissolved will dissolve limestone. Chemical weathering is more likely to take place in humid tropical climates. 

The rates of dissolution of carbonates and aluminosilicates as a function of pH are generalized in Fig. 2.11. Calcite and dolomite dissolution rates are generally 10 to 1 O -fold faster than rates for the silicates and decrease with pH up to saturation with the carbonates, usually between pH 8 and 10. Dissolution rates among the silicates range widely and are greatest for rapidly weathered minerals such as nepheline and olivine and slowest for quartz, muscovite (illite) and kaolinite, important products of chemical weathering in soils, discussed in more detail in Chap. 7. 

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