THE INSOLUBLE RESIDUE TEST FOR ABUNDANCE OF CARBONATE

Among methods for determining the abundance of carbonate minerals in s olid samples, dissolution in acid is appealing because it is cheap and can be quick, but it suffers from several sources of uncertainty. The weight loss due to evaporation of water can be corrected for easily b y measuring the weight loss from blank vessels as well as sample vesse ls. However, a further correction, for excess evaporation due to heat liberated by dissolution, is desirable; we show how to calculate it. C ertain puzzling results point to a need for further investigation of i nterfering factors. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.