Abstract
COMMON rock-and soil-forming minerals are complicated structures of varying composition. Despite some encouraging progress1,2 there is as yet no comprehensive rationale for predicting the dissolution rates of these minerals. Here we test the hypothesis3 that dissolution rates of compositionally distinct orthosilicate minerals scale in a fashion similar to rates of water exchange around the corresponding dissolved, divalent cation. Although dissolution rates span several orders of magnitude, the hypothesis is sustained. Minerals containing alkaline-earth cations dissolve at rates that correlate with ionic size, whereas minerals containing first-row transition metals dissolve at rates that vary with the number of cationd-electrons. Both types of behaviour are consistent with the control of dissolution rate by the character of the bonds between the divalent cation and neighbouring oxygen atoms. This result supports the proposed link3–6 between the mechanisms of mineral dissolution and the mechanisms by which a dissolved metal exchanges ligands. With this link it may be possible to predict dissolution rates for other nearly isostructural minerals that vary in composition.
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Casey, W., Westrich, H. Control of dissolution rates of orthosilicate minerals by divalent metal–oxygen bonds. Nature 355, 157–159 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/355157a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/355157a0
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