DISSOLUTION KINETICS AT THE CALCITE-WATER INTERFACE

Although many geochemical processes, including mineral dissolution, ar e controlled by kinetic mechanisms, quantitative descriptions of the r eaction kinetics are mostly lacking, principally due to an incomplete understanding of the molecular-scale processes controlling these react ions. In this paper, a combined experimental and theoretical approach involving atomic force microscopy, an analytical terrace-ledge-kink mo del, and kinetic Monte Carlo computer simulations was used to study th e aqueous dissolution kinetics of the calcite (<10(1)over bar 4>) surf ace. The study provides a determination of the elementary rates and ac tivation energies associated with dissolution at specific kink sites o n the calcite surface.