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Dissolution Kinetics Of Sulfate Minerals: Linking Environmental Significance Of Mineral-Water Interface Reactions To The Retention Of Aqueous Cro42- In Natural Waters, Sweta Bose

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Dissolution as a function of solution undersaturation (Ω) was studied on both celestite and barite (001) by the aid of atomic force microscopy (AFM). Both the sulfates exhibited non-linear reactivity trends showing increasing dissolution rates with decreasing Ω. In the case of celestite, the dissolution rate non linearity was attributed to a changeover in reaction mechanism. At higher undersaturations below a critical saturation state of Ω_crit ~ 0.1, dissolution occurred both along the existing step edges and also via the creation of new steps. At conditions near saturation states dissolution took place exclusively by removal of ions from existing …