Search results for "CALCITE"
showing 10 items of 191 documents
Geochemical characterization of groundwater and submarine discharge in the south-eastern Sicily
2006
Abstract The main results of a hydrogeochemical survey carried out during 2002–2003 along the coast of the south-eastern Sicily, which aimed at geochemical characterization of both groundwater chemistry and submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in the area are presented. A general frame of chemical processes affecting the studied groundwater and SGD point out that most samples fall within the calcite-anhydrite-dolomite field (CAD). The chemical composition of the samples within the CAD triangle is essentially controlled by calcite, dolomite and gypsum dissolution, which are the main minerals of the carbonate rocks hosting the aquifers. An additional process evidenced in this study is a mixi…
Climatic dependence of stable carbon and oxygen isotope signals recorded in speleothems: From soil water to speleothem calcite
2011
Abstract Understanding the relationship between stable isotope signals recorded in speleothems (δ 13 C and δ 18 O) and the isotopic composition of the carbonate species in the soil water is of great importance for their interpretation in terms of past climate variability. Here the evolution of the carbon isotope composition of soil water on its way down to the cave during dissolution of limestone is studied for both closed and open-closed conditions with respect to CO 2 . The water entering the cave flows as a thin film towards the drip site. CO 2 degasses from this film within approx. 10 s by molecular diffusion. Subsequently, chemical and isotopic equilibrium is established on a time scal…
Modelling the δ18O value of cave drip water and speleothem calcite
2010
Abstract Stable isotope signals recorded in speleothems have provided important insights about past climate variability in recent years. Quantitative reconstruction of mean annual temperature and the amount of precipitation, however, remains difficult because the stable isotope signals are influenced by various processes. Here we present a drip water model, which shows how these climate parameters affect the oxygen isotope signal of cave drip water. In the model the dependence of the δ 18 O value of drip water on mean annual temperature is established by correlation to the amount of winter precipitation and winter temperature. Application of the model to two caves in western Germany reveals…
High biocompatibility and improved osteogenic potential of amorphous calcium carbonate/vaterite.
2020
In human bone, amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) is formed as a precursor of the crystalline carbonated apatite/hydroxyapatite (HA). Here we describe that the metastable ACC phase can be stabilized by inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) that is also used as a phosphate source for the non-enzymatic carbonate/phosphate exchange during HA formation. This polymer was found to suppress the transformation of ACC into crystalline CaCO3 at a percentage of 5% [w/w] ("CCP5") with respect to CaCO3 and almost completely at 10% [w/w] ("CCP10"). Both preparations (CaCO3/polyP) are amorphous, but also contain small amounts of vaterite, as revealed by XRD, FTIR and SEM analyses. They did not affect the growth/…
Mechanochemical Access to Defect-Stabilized Amorphous Calcium Carbonate
2018
Amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) is an important precursor in the biomineralization of crystalline CaCO3. The lifetime of transient ACC in nature is regulated by an organic matrix, to use it as an intermediate storage buffer or as a permanent structural element. The relevance of ACC in material science is related to our understanding of CaCO3 crystallization pathways. ACC can be obtained by liquid–liquid phase separation, and it is typically stabilized with the help of macromolecules. We have prepared ACC by milling calcite in a planetary ball mill. The ball-milled amorphous calcium carbonate (BM-ACC) was stabilized with small amounts of Na2CO3. The addition of foreign ions in form of Na2C…
Smaller calcite lattice deformation caused by occluded organic material in coccoliths than in mollusk shell.
2015
7 pages; International audience; The growth and nucleation of biominerals are directed and affected by associated biological molecules. In this paper, we investigate the influence of occluded biomolecules on biogenic calcite from the coccolithophorid Pleurochrysis carterae and from chalk, a rock composed predominantly of fossil coccoliths. We compare the results with data on chalk from the extensively studied mussel Pinna nobilis that served as a control. Using high resolution synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction combined with in situ heating, the influence of organic compounds on the structure of the inorganic phase was probed. Two heating cycles allow us to differentiate the effects of th…
Pseudomorphic transformation of amorphous calcium carbonate films follows spherulitic growth mechanisms and can give rise to crystal lattice tilting
2015
Amorphous calcium carbonate films synthesized by the polymer-induced liquid-precursor (PILP) process convert into crystallographically complex calcite spherulites. Tuning the experimental parameters allows for the generation of crystal lattice tilting similar to that found in calcareous biominerals. This contribution evidences the role of spherulitic growth mechanisms in pseudomorphic transformations of calcium carbonate.
Carbonate stromatolites from a Messinian hypersaline setting in the Caltanissetta Basin, Sicily: petrographic evidence of microbial activity and rela…
2010
Lower Messinian stromatolites of the Calcare di Base Formation at Sutera in Sicily record periods of low sea-level, strong evaporation and elevated salinity, thought to be associated with the onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Overlying aragonitic limestones were precipitated in normal to slightly evaporative conditions, occasionally influenced by an influx of meteoric water. Evidence of bacterial involvement in carbonate formation is recorded in three dolomite-rich stromatolite beds in the lower portion of the section that contain low domes with irregular crinkly millimetre-scale lamination and small fenestrae. The dominant microfabrics are: (i) peloidal and clotted dolomicrite with c…
The beast burrowed, the fluid followed – Crustacean burrows as methane conduits
2015
Abstract An extensive pockmark field with associated methane-seep carbonates has recently been reported from the late Albian (Lower Cretaceous) Ubidepea Mudstone of the Black Flysch Group in the Basque Country, northern Spain, but the exact pathways of the migrating methane-rich fluids remained elusive. Here we provide petrographic, stable carbon and oxygen isotope evidence that abundant crustacean burrows in the surrounding mudstone, preserved as the trace fossil Thalassinoides, and the seep carbonates themselves have acted as long-lasting fluid conduits in this system. The Thalassinoides infill generations show a diagenetic parasequence often starting with a distinctive lining, followed b…
Partial high-pressure aragonitization of micritic limestones in an accretionary complex, Tavşanlı Zone, NW Turkey
2006
Pelagic micritic limestones within an upper Cretaceous accretionary complex in the Tavsanli Zone, NW Turkey, preserve textures indicating incomplete prograde transformation of micritic calcite to aragonite, representing the only known example of this type. Aragonitization starts at the central parts of the micritic limestone beds and advances towards the lower and upper parts of the layers at the expense of micrite. Micrite is very fine grained (<0.003 mm) and contains radiolaria, foraminifera and thin shell fragments. Aragonite forms large crystals, up to 3 cm across, with straight grain boundaries and c-axis mostly subparallel to the carbonate beds. Relict micritic portions are devoid of …