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Carbonates

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Encyclopedia of Geobiology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Synonyms

Carbonate minerals

Definition

Carbonates. The term carbonates comprises solid phases such as minerals and amorphous substances, which basically consist of cations and triangular carbonate groups.

Introduction

The most common carbonate minerals in natural surroundings are calcite (CaCO3) and dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2). These minerals comprise about 90 wt.% of carbonates within the Earth’s crust and 10–15 wt.% of sedimentary rocks. The proportion of dolomite to calcite increases with decreasing geological age, representing the potential for transformation of calcium carbonate to dolomite at elevated temperature and high molar Mg2+ to Ca2+ ratio during geological history. Additional carbonate minerals are numerous, but occur in rather special natural surroundings.

The occurrence and formation of carbonate minerals is mostly related to the precipitation from aqueous solutions and to a lesser extent to the crystallization from carbonate melts. In aquatic systems carbonate formation may...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Applied Geosciences, Graz University of Technology, 8010, Graz, Austria

    Martin Dietzel

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Joachim Reitner  & Volker Thiel  & 

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Dietzel, M. (2011). Carbonates. In: Reitner, J., Thiel, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geobiology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9212-1_50

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