Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T19:06:13.482Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Unusual morphologies and the occurrence of pseudomorphs after ikaite (CaCO3·6H2O) in fast growing, hyperalkaline speleothems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

L. P. Field ,
A. E. Milodowski ,
R. P. Shaw ,
L. A. Stevens ,
M. R. Hall ,
A. Kilpatrick ,
J. Gunn ,
S. J. Kemp  and
M. A. Ellis
L. P. Field*
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Environmental Science Centre, Keyworth NG12 5GG, UK
A. E. Milodowski
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Environmental Science Centre, Keyworth NG12 5GG, UK
R. P. Shaw
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Environmental Science Centre, Keyworth NG12 5GG, UK
L. A. Stevens
Affiliation:
The University of Nottingham, Nottingham Centre for Geomechanics, Faculty of Engineering, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
M. R. Hall
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Environmental Science Centre, Keyworth NG12 5GG, UK The University of Nottingham, Nottingham Centre for Geomechanics, Faculty of Engineering, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
A. Kilpatrick
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Environmental Science Centre, Keyworth NG12 5GG, UK
J. Gunn
Affiliation:
Limestone Research Group, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
S. J. Kemp
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Environmental Science Centre, Keyworth NG12 5GG, UK
M. A. Ellis
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Environmental Science Centre, Keyworth NG12 5GG, UK
*
*E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Unusual speleothems, associated with hyperalkaline (pH > 12) groundwaters have formed within a shallow, abandoned railway tunnel at Peak Dale, Derbyshire, UK. The hyperalkaline groundwaters are produced by the leaching of a thin layer (<2 m) of old lime-kiln waste on the soil-bedrock surface above the tunnel by rainwater. This results in a different reaction and chemical process to that more commonly associated with the formation of calcium carbonate speleothems from Ca-HCO3-type groundwaters and degassing of CO2. Stalagmites within the Peak Daletunnel have grown rapidly (averaging 33 mm y–1), following the closure of the tunnel 70 years ago. They have an unusual morphology comprising a central sub-horizontally-laminated column of micro- to nano-crystalline calcium carbonate encompassed by an outer sub-vertical assymetricripple-laminated layer. The stalagmites are composed largely of secondary calcite forming pseudomorphs (<1 mm) that we believe to be predominantly after the 'cold climate' calcium carbonate polymorph, ikaite (calcium carbonate hexahydrate: CaCO3·6H2O), withminor volumes of small (<5 μm) pseudomorphs after vaterite. The tunnel has a near constant temperature of 8–9°C, which is slightly above the previously published crystallization temperatures for ikaite (<6°C). Analysis of a stalagmite actively growing at the time ofsampling, and preserved immediately within a dry nitrogen cryogenic vessel, indicates that following crystallization of ikaite, decomposition to calcite occurs rapidly, if not instantaneously. We believe this is the first occurrence of this calcium carbonate polymorph observed within speleothems.

Keywords

ikaitespeleothemhyperalkalinecalcium carbonate hexahydrate
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 81 , Issue 3 , June 2017 , pp. 565 - 589
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2017

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allison, V.C. (1923) The growth of stalagmites and stalactites. Journal of Geology, 31, 106–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, A., Genty, D., Dreybrodt, W., Barnes, W.L., Mockler, N.J. and Grapes, J. (1998) Testing theoretically predicted stalagmite growth rate with recent annually laminated samples: implications for past stalagmite deposition. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 62, 393–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, A., Proctor, C.J. and Barnes, W.L. (1999) Variations in stalagmite luminescence laminae structure at Poole's Cavern, England, AD 1910 ±1996: calibration of a palaeoprecipitation proxy. The Holocene, 9, 683–688.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, A., Smith, C.L., Jex, C., Fairchild, I.J., Genty, D. and Fuller, L. (2008) Annually laminated speleothems: a review. International Journal of Speleology, 37, 193–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banks, VI, Gunn, J. and Lowe, D.J. (2009) Stratigraphical influences on the limestone hydrogeol-ogy of the Wye catchment, Derbyshire. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 42, 211–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, I., Presser, T.S., Saines, M., Dickson, P. and Van Groos, A.F.K. (1982) Geochemistry of highly basic calcium hydroxide groundwater in Jordan. Chemical Geology, 35, 147–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bischoff, J.L., Fitzpatrick, J.A. and Rosenbauer, R.J. (1993) The solubility and stabilization of ikaite (CaCCy6H2O) from 0° to 25°C: Environmental and paleoclimatic implications for thinolite tufa. Journal of Geology, 101, 21–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boch, R., Dietzel, M., Reichl, P., Leis, A., Baldermann, A., Mittermayer, F. and Pölt, P. (2015) Rapid ikaite (CaCO3'6H2O) crystallisation in a man-made river bed: Hydrogeochemical monitoring of a rarely documented mineral formation. Applied Geochemistry, 63, 366–379.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brunauer, S., Emmett, P.H. and Teller, E. (1938) Adsorption of gases in multimolecular layers. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 60, 309–319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchardt, B., Seaman,P., Stockmann, G., Vous, M., Wilken, U., Düwel, L., Kristiansen, A., Jenner, C., Whiticar, M. J., Kristensen, R.M. et al. (1997) Submarine columns of ikaite tufa. Nature, 390, 129–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahl, K. and Buchardt, B. (2006) Monohydrocalcite in the arctic Ikka Fjord, SW Greenland: First reported marine occurrence. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 76, 460–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Lurio, J.L. and Frakes, L.A. (1999) Glendonites as a paleoenvironmental tool: implications for early Cretaceous high latitude climates in Australia. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 63, 1039–1048.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fairchild, I.J. and Baker, A. (2012) Speleothem Science: From Process to Past Environments. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, UK.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frisia, S., Borsato, A., Fairchild, I.J., McDermott, F. and Selmo, E.M. (2002) Aragonite-calcite relationships in speleothems (Grotte de Clamouse, France): Enironment, fabrics and carbonate geochemistry. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 72, 687–699.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gagen, P.J. (1988) The evolution of quarried limestone rock slopes in the English Peak District. Unpublished PhD Thesis, CNAA at Manchester Polytechnic, UK.Google Scholar
Gagen, P.J. and Gunn, J. (1988) A geomorphological approach to limestone quarry restoration. Pp. 121–142 in: Geomorphology in Environmental Planning (J.M. Hooke, editor). John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, UK.Google Scholar
Gaines, R.V., Skinner, C.W., Foord, E.E., Mason, B. and Rosenzweig, A. (1997) Dana's New Mineralogy: The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight and Edward Salisbury, 8th ed. Wiley, New York, 1872 pp.Google Scholar
Hansen, M.O., Buchardt, B., Kühl, M. and Elberling, B. (2011) The fate of the submarine Ikaite Tufa columns in Southwest Greenland under changing climate conditions. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 81, 553–561.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartland, A., Domínguez-Villar, D., Baker, A., Gunn, J., Baalousha, M. and Yon, J.-N. (2010) The dripwaters and speleothems of Poole's Cavern: a review of recent and ongoing research. Cave and Karst Science, 36, 37–46.Google Scholar
Hesse, K.F. and Kuppers, H. (1983) Refinement of the structure of Ikaite, CaCCy6H2O. Zeitschrift fUr Kristallographie, 163, 227–231.Google Scholar
House, W.A. (1987) Inhibition of calcite crystal growth by inorganic phosphate. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 119, 505–511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, Y.-B., Wolf-Gladrow, D.A., Dieckmann, G.S. Völker, C. and Nehrke, G. (2014) A laboratory study of ikaite (CaCO3-6H2O) precipitation as a function of pH, salinity, temperature and phosphate concentration. Marine Chemistry, 162, 10–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ito, T (1998) Factors controlling the transformation of natural ikaite from Shiowakka, Japan. Geochemical Journal, 32, 267–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, Z. and He, D. (1998) Special speleothems in cement-grouting tunnels and their implications of the atmospheric CO2 sink. Environmental Geology, 35, 258–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macleod, G., Fallick, A.E. and Hall, A.J. (1991) The mechanism of carbonate growth on concrete struc-tures, as elucidated by carbon and oxygen isotope analyses. Chemical Geology: Isotope Geoscience Section, 86, 335–343.Google Scholar
Marland, G. (1975) The stability of CaCCy6H2O (ikaite). Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 39, 83–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDermott, F. (2004) Palaeo-climate reconstruction from stable isotope variations in speleothems: a review. Quarternary Science Reviews, 23, 901–918.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McMillan, E.A., Fairchild, I.J., Frisia, S., Borsato, A. and McDermott, F. (2005) Annual trace element cycles in calcite-aragonite speleothems: evidence of drought in the western Mediterranean 1200-1100 yr BP. Journal of Quaternary Science, 20, 423–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milodowski, A.E., Shaw, R.P and Stewart, D.I. (2013) The Harpur Hill Site: its geology, evolutionary history and a catalogue of materials present. British Geological Survey Report, CR/13/104. Available from: https://rwm.nda.gov.uk/publication/harpur-hill-site-its-geology-evolutionary-history-and-a-catalogue-of-materials-present/.Google Scholar
Milodowski, A., Rushton, J., Purser, G., Rochelle, C., Kemp, S., Shaw, R. and Ellis, M. (2014) The formation of ikaite (CaCO3'6H2O) in hyperalkaline springs associated with the leaching of lime kiln waste. Goldschmidt Abstracts, p. 1697.[available at https://goldschmidt.info/]. ISSN: 1042-7287.Google Scholar
Newton, K.E., Fairchild, I.J. and Gunn, J. (2015) Rates of calcite precipitation from hyperalkaline waters, Poole's Cavern, Derbyshire, UK. Cave and Karst Science, 42, 116–124.Google Scholar
Omelon, C.R., Pollard, W.H. and Marion, G.M. (2000) Seasonal formation of ikaite (CaCO3-6H2O) in saline spring discharge at Expedition Fiord, Canadian High Arctic: Assessing conditional constraints for natural crystal growth. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 65, 1429–1437.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ordnance Survey (2013) Ordnance Survey data Crown Copyright and database rights, 2013. Ordnance Survey Licence No. 100021290.Google Scholar
Parkhurst, D.L. and Appelo, C.A.J. (2013) Description of input and examples for PHREEQC Version 3 — A computer program for speciation, batch-reaction, one-dimensional transport, and inverse geochemical calculations. U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods, 6. USGS.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pauly, H. (1963) “Ikaite”, a new mineral from Greenland. Arctic, 16, 263–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinsent, B.R.W., Pearson, L. and Roughton, F.J.W. (1956) The kinetics of combination of carbon dioxide with hydroxide ions. Transactions of the Faraday Society, 52, 1512–1520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Railsback, L.B., Brook, G.A., Chen, J., Kalin, R. and Fleisher, C.J. (1994) Environmental controls on the petrology of a late Holocene speleothem from Botswana with annual layers of aragonite and calcite. Journal of Sedimentary Research A, 64, 147–155.Google Scholar
Rodriguez-Blanco, J.D., Shaw, S. and Benning, L.G. (2011) The kinetics and mechanisms of amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) crystallization to calcite, via vaterite. Nanoscale, 3, 265–271.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rodriguez-Blanco, J.D., Shaw, S., Bots, P., Roncal-Herrero, T and Benning, L.G. (2014) The role of Mg in the crystallisation of monohydrocalcite. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 127, 204–220,CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roedder, E. (1968) The noncolloidal origin of “collo-form” textures in sphalerite ores. Economic Geology, 63, 451–471.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sánchez-Pastor, N., Oehlerich, M., Astilleros, J.M., Kaliwoda, M., Mayr, C.C., Fernández-Díaz, L. and Schmahl, W.W. (2016) Crystallization of ikaite and its pseudomorphic transformation into calcite: Ramen spectroscopy evidence. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 175, 271–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Self, C.A. and Hill, C.A. (2003) How speleothems grow: an introduction to the ontogeny of cave minerals. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, 65, 130–151.Google Scholar
Shaikh, A.M. and Shearman, D J. (1987) On ikaite and the morphology of its pseudomorphs. in: Geochemistry of the Earth Surface and Processes of Mineral Formation (Rodriguez-Clemente, R., Tardy, Y., editors). Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Granada, Spain.Google Scholar
Shearman, D.J. and Smith, A.J. (1985) Ikaite, the parent mineral of jarrowite-type pseudomorphs. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association, 96, 305–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shearman, D.J., McGugan, A., Stein, C. and Smith, A.J. (1989) Ikaite, CaCO3-6H2O, precursor of the thino-lites in the Quaternary tufas and tufa mounds of the Lahontan and Mono Lake Basins, western United States. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 101, 913–917.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spielhagen, R.F. and Tripati, A. (2009) Evidence from Svalbard for near-freezing temperatures and climate oscillations in the Arctic during the Paleocene and Eocene. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 278, 48–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sundqvist, H.S., Baker, A. and Holmgren, K. (2005) Luminescence variations in fast-growing stalagmites from Uppsala, Sweden. Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography, 87, 539–548.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tucker, M. (2001) Sedimentary Petrology: An Introduction to the Origin of Sedimentary Rocks, 3rd ed. Blackwell, Oxford, UK.Google Scholar
UK Meteorological Office (2014) MIDAS Land Surface Stations data (1853-current), [Internet]. NCAS British Atmospheric Data Centre. Available from: http://badc.nerc.ac.uk/view/badc.nerc.ac.uk__ATOM_dataent_ukmo-midas Google Scholar
Waters, C.N., Waters, R.A., Barclay, W.J. and Davies, J. (2009) . lithostratigraphical framework for Carboniferous successions of Southern Great Britain (Onshore) RR/09/01. British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham.Google Scholar