Dolomite

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The mineral dolomite is named after the rock in the Dolomite Mountains in Italy. The mountains are named after a French geologist named Deodat de Dolomieu (1750-1801).

So, say this ten times fast! Dolomieu climbed the dolomite Dolomites before they were dolomite.

A dolomite rock statue in the Dolomites.A dolomite rock building in the Dolomites.

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Coral and other organisms use calcite to construct their hard parts. After the creatures die, their hard-part remains may dissolve in the water or they may fall to the ocean bottom where they will form the limestone of the future.

Wait: I thought we’re talking about dolomite, not calcite or limestone!

Some dolomite rock is altered limestone: as magnesium-rich water moved through the limestone, magnesium ions replaced up to half the calcium ions.

Dolomite can also precipitate in saline lakes and in the deep ocean.

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Dolomite is easily dissolved in water. This dissolution makes water hard and creates

caves and sinkholes.

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When magnesium rich saline water evaporates, the dolomite

minerals come out of the water to form a solid, like at the Coorong

lakes in Australia.

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Objects made of magnesium, such as fire starters and pencil

sharpeners, are made from sea water or brine,

not dolomite. GN

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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.

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

dolomite = mineral magnesium carbonate

chemical formula: CaMg(CO3)2

dolostone = a carbonate sedimentary rock made of the mineral dolomite

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

Wait: Dolomite? Dolostone? Carbonate? Marble?

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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.

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Powdered dolomite is used in the manufacture of ceramic glazes

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Also used in the manufacture of glass, and optical glass which is used in microscopes and cameras.

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Carbonates, like calcite,

are added to animal feed.

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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.

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Carbonates condition soils for home

gardening.

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Magnesium 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!

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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”.

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Carbonate minerals are important to plants. Magnesium, from dolomite, aids in photosynthesis.

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.

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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.

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

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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

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

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Dolomite

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media rights

Many of the photos in this presentation were obtained through Flickr and Wikipedia.

Funded by FIPSE and by the University of Minnesota. Compiled for Dr. Kent Kirkby, Department of Geology and Geophysics, by Kate Rosok, 2007. Each displayed image

retains its original media rights. For educational purposes only; not to be used commercially.

public domain (none)

© Copyright. All rights reserved

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