ABSTRACT
The objectives of this chapter are twofold: outline the observed link between mineral surface chemistry and macroscopic rates of growth and dissolution and examine the probable microscopic reactions which explain this link. The connection between mineral surface chemistry and mineral growth rates is far less clear than is the link between surface chemistry and mineral dissolution. As a result, the treatment in this chapter will lean heavily on dissolution rates. Because rates are generally assumed to be proportional to the amount of mineral exposed to solution, the method for determining the surface area of the dissolving mineral is important. Surface-controlled mineral dissolution, far from equilibrium, is generally described by a rate law of the form. The correlation between dissolution rate and water exchange from a hydrated cation is not surprising as the two processes are mechanistically similar.
