Attrib

-NoC

om

: Le

o Re

ynold

s

Calcite

Pho

to c

our

tesy

Ro

be

rt S

aw

in,

KG

S

Coral and other organisms use

calcite to construct their hard parts.

Eug

en

e W

eb

er ©

 Califo

rnia A

cade

my of S

cience

sE

uge

ne

 We

be

r ©

 Cal

iforn

ia A

cade

my 

of S

cien

ces

E. E

ug

enia

 Patte

n, ©

 CA

 Aca

de

my o

f Scie

nces

A colorful seashell, coneshell, in a few of the beautiful colors of calcite and aragonite.

NO

AA

/Do

CP

hoto

grap

he

r: Ste

ven C

ook

credit: F

lorid

a K

eys N

ation

al M

arine

San

ctua

ry (NO

AA

/Do

C)

Brain coral and sea fan close-up, in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

NO

AA

/Do

CN

OA

A/D

oC N

OA

A/D

oC

These calcite pieces, the hard-part remains of organisms, may wash up on a shore and get picked up by a human, or they may fall to the bottom of the ocean where they will form the limestone of the future.

EP

AN

AS

A G

FC

Jerr

y P

rezi

oso

, N

OA

A/D

oC

Microscopic plankton and coccoliths, all calcite-bodied creatures. After they die, their remains falls to the ocean floor, or are dissolved, and eventually help create limestone.

(credit: )

Pho

tog

raph

er: M

arli M

iller Im

age

source

: Ea

rth S

cien

ce Wo

rld Im

age

Ba

nk

Travertine deposits near a hot spring. Standing here at Yellowstone in Wyoming, you could almost watch the travertine (calcite) precipitate out of the hot water as it evaporates.

Calcite is easily dissolved in water. This dissolution creates caves and makes water hard. When that water evaporates, the calcite minerals come out of the water to form a solid such as speleothems in caves, travertine near springs, or hard water scum in your bathtub.

Calcite speleothems:

US

GS

Travertine (calcite) draperies in Mitchell Caverns.

Wind

Cave

/NP

SW

ind

Cav

e/N

PS helictite

bush aragonite frostwork

calcite popcorn

La

Cro

sse/US

FW

S

This river in northeast Iowa is edged with limestone cliffs, formed in an ocean hundreds of millions of years ago.

US

GS

This homeowner in Florida has a sinkhole in her yard due to the dissolution of the limestone bedrock below.

The White Cliffs of Dover, in southeast England. The cliffs are chalk, which is made of microscopic calcitic plankton.

pu

blic

do

ma

in

Chalkboard chalk originally was made from pure calcite “chalk”, but now is mixed with other

minerals.

Attr

ib-N

oCo

m-N

oDe

rivs

: M

onik

a H

oin

kis

Attrib

-NoC

om

-NoD

erivs: R

yan O

zawaA

ttrib

-NoD

eri

vs:

Mat

t M

cGe

e

Attrib

-NoC

om

: Lin

dley A

shlin

e

Michelangelo's Pieta is made of marble.

Marble is a popular sculpture material made

of metamorphosed carbonate.

Marble exposed to rain can disintegrate, either

by the acidic water dissolving the calcite ions, or by physical

freeze-thaw weathering.

cre

dit:

Sta

nis

lav

Tra

ykov

; im

age

in p

ub

lic d

om

ain

Courtesy of W

indows to the U

niverse http://w

ww

.window

s.ucar.edu

limestone = a carbonate sedimentary rock made of the mineral calcite

marble = any metamorphic rock that is made up of recrystallized minerals of calcite and/or dolomite

Wait: Calcite? Limestone? Carbonate? Marble?

calcite = mineral calcium carbonate

chemical formula: CaCO3

Attr

ib-N

oCo

m-S

hare

Alik

e:

mtc

hm

carbonate = generic name for any sedimentary rock that is made of deposited carbonate (CO3) minerals, like limestone or dolomite rock

US

GS

The Washington monument is made of several different types of marble. Marble is carbonate that was subjected to heat or pressure, or metamorphosed, while buried deep in the earth.

After blocks are cut out of the rock and into the desired shape, they are shipped from the quarries to the construction site by railroad.

Carbonates are very popular building stones.

Pho

to c

our

tesy

Gra

ce M

uile

nb

urg

, K

GS

© 2

006

VA

Dep

artm

en

t of Ga

me

and

Inla

nd F

isherie

s

Here, 150 tons of limestone dust are added to Laurel Bed Lake to improve pH.

Calcite calms our acidic stomachs.

Attr

ib-N

oCo

m-S

hare

Alik

e:

To

m M

ag

liery

Attrib

-NoC

om

: Roa

dsid

epictu

res

from the January 1939 Popular Science Attrib-NoCom-ShareAlike: Todd Ehlers

Attrib

-Sha

reA

like: h

obvia

s sudo

ne

ighm

Calcium is an important dietary mineral, but the mineral carbonate forms are not absorbed by the human body.

Make sure your dietary supplements are from a food (not a rock) source!

Attrib

-NoC

om

-NoD

erivs: K

eith

Da

ven

po

rt

Attr

ib-N

oCo

m-S

hare

Alik

e:

La

sta

iiA

ttrib-N

oCo

m-S

hare

Alike

: Alan

Pe

nne

r

Water with dissolved carbonate in it,

usually groundwater from carbonate

aquifers, is known as hard water.

Hard water can be

improved by “water softening” treatment.

Hard water causes “scaling”.

Attr

ib-N

oCo

m:

Nof

ole

te /

Da

ne L

ars

en

Attr

ib-N

oCo

m:

Dan

e L

arse

nA

ttrib

-NoC

om

-Sha

reA

like

: sp

ike

55

151

Carbonates, like calcite, are added to animal

feed.

Attr

ib-N

oCo

m-N

oDe

rivs

: M

aury

McC

ow

nA

ttrib-S

hare

Alike

: Pete

r Hu

ys

Attrib

-Sha

reA

like: re

djar

Attr

ib-N

oCo

m:

Jane

Coc

kman

Carbonate is used as a flux for metallurgy. A flux is a material that melts easily and can be used to remove impurities from metal ores, or that makes the slag produced by metal ore smelting more fluid.

Attrib

-Sha

reA

like: S

outh

ern

_C

omfo

rt

Attrib

-NoC

om

-Sha

reA

like: B

BC

olin

Carbonates condition soils for home

gardening.

Attrib

-NoC

om

-Sha

reA

like: S

arah

Se

ren

dipityA

ttrib

: E

dito

r B

A

ttrib-N

oCo

m-S

hare

Alike

: ed

gep

lot

Attr

ib-N

oCo

m-N

oDe

rivs

: ~

Liv

ing

the

Am

eri

can

Dre

am

~

Attr

ib-N

oCo

m-S

hare

Alik

e:

ew

an

rA

ttrib-S

hare

Alike

: Ch

rischan

g

Carbonate minerals are important to plants. Calcium, from calcite, is utilized by cells in building their cell walls.

Powdered fertilizer is spread on farm fields.

Carbon dioxide from the air, and not

carbonate from rocks, are the main building

blocks of plant life.

Live plants underwater also need fertilizer.

Attr

ib:

Kum

on

Carbonate is manufactured into a powdered lime, which is combined with water to form plaster, mortar, and cement.

Plaster is used on walls and in art

Mortar holds bricks together.

Cement and rocks make concrete.

GN

U

Attrib

: Alan

Le

vine

A

ttrib-N

oCo

m-N

oDe

rivs: O

liver E

lser &

An

drea

s Mu

hs

CV

C /

Arc

hite

ct o

f th

e C

apito

l

OS

HA

Casca

de

s Job

Co

rps C

en

ter/US

Do

L

CD

C

Carbonates are in concrete as the cement and as rocks. In these pictures concrete masons put the smooth finish on a concrete floor.

Attrib

-Sha

reA

like: B

eige

Ale

rt

Many buildings and sculptures are made of carbonate, both stone and concrete. We use a great deal of calcite and dolomite in building the

hard parts of our society.

Concrete

Carbonate stone

Attrib

: Jonn

y20

05

Attrib

-NoC

om

: jab

ena

ki

Attrib

-NoC

om

-Sha

reA

like: n

znom

ad

Attrib

-NoC

om

: And

rea

Kirkb

y

Attr

ib-N

oCo

m:

Ada

m H

en

nin

g

FH

A/U

S D

OT

Cal

tra

n

Think of all the roads you have ever been on: carbonates make them all possible.

MN

DO

T

Attrib

-NoC

om

: Le

o Re

ynold

s

Calcite

Pho

to c

our

tesy

Ro

be

rt S

aw

in,

KG

S

Types of media rights ownership

In this work we have adhered, to the best of our knowledge, to the media rights of each image.

Attribution – Noncommercial – Share Alike

Attribution

Attribution – No Derivative works

Attribution – Share Alike

Attribution – Noncommercial – No Derivative works

(none) Public domain

© Copyright. All rights reserved

Cre

ativ

e C

omm

ons

Lice

nses

Creative Commons Licenses

          Attribution (Attrib) means:You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work - and derivative works based upon it - but only if they give you credit.           Noncommercial (noCom) means:You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work - and derivative works based upon it - but for noncommercial purposes only.           No Derivative Works (NoDerivs) means:You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.          Share Alike (ShareAlike) means:You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work.

(credit: http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/meet-the-licenses)