Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Experimental determination of the calcite-dolomite equilibrium below 200[degree]C: Revised stabilities for dolomite and magnesite support near-equilibrium dolomitization models

Conference · · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)
OSTI ID:5806840
; ;  [1]
  1. Exxon Production Research Co., Houston, TX (United States)

New hydrothermal experiments conducted in Dickson-type and Parr reaction vessels have delimited the calcite-dolomite and dolomite-magnesite equilibria between 125 and 200 C. These experimental data when combined with accurate heat capacities for minerals and ions, require significant increases in the standard enthalpies for the reactions: 2 Calcite + Mg[sup 2+] = Dolomite + Ca[sup 2+] (1), and Dolomite + Mg[sup 2+] = 2 Magnesite + Ca[sup 2+] (2). The revised standard heats are 20.2 kJ for Reaction (1) and 29.9 kJ for Reaction (2). These parameters permit accurate calculation of the calcite-dolomite and dolomite-magnesite equilibria from 0 to 400 C and yield results in excellent agreement with the high-temperature experiments of Rosenberg and Holland (1964, 1967). In consequence, seawater at earth-surface conditions is nearly at equilibrium with dolomite, not grossly supersaturated with it, and dolomitization is bets modeled as a near-equilibrium process. The authors illustrate this approach with models describing dolomitization by hot seawater and by evaporated seawater.

OSTI ID:
5806840
Report Number(s):
CONF-921058--
Journal Information:
Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Journal Name: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States) Vol. 24:7; ISSN GAAPBC; ISSN 0016-7592
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English