Carbon Dioxide--Uptake by Reactions Involving Carbonate Minerals in the Shallow Ocean and Geological History

摘要

This program is divided into three parts: theoretical, experimental, and field. Theoretically, anticipated changes in seawater chemistry were calculated because of increased CO2 levels that would be expected with and without reactions involving Mg-calcites. Experimentally, the nature of coatings on calcite grains suspended in seawater and their reactivity to increased CO2 levels were investigated. Also, studies were begun on the solubility behavior of biogenic and inorganic Mg-calcites in seawater and other aqueous solutions. Several inorganic calcites were synthesized and characterized by use of SEM, electron microprobe, X-ray diffraction and wet chemical methods. In the field, studies of changes in chemical properties of seawater tentatively demonstrated that natural Mg-calcites will dissolve if subjected to increased CO2 levels.