ABSTRACT
The ion-ion electrostatic attractions in mineral lattices are overarchingly important forces for mineral formation. Examples of important divalent metal carbonates are: CaCO3(s) in the hexagonal crystal form, CaCO3(s) in the orthorhombic crystal form, MgCa(CO3)2(s), known as dolomite (as in the Dolomite mountain range in the east Alps in northeast Italy) and FeCO3(s), known as siderite, and found in nature in hydrothermal veins, often as a result of the action of Fe2+-containing solutions on calcium carbonate minerals. There are two possible sources of Alk: dissolution of carbonate rock, and addition of non-zero (C'B-C'A). An extremely common case type for natural waters interacting with carbonate rock in a closed system involves rainwater that initially absorbs CO2 to some CT concentration y (as from the atmosphere or from soil gas), but nothing else of consequence.
