The interaction of manganese(II) with the surface of calcite in dilute solutions and seawater

The interaction of Mn²⁺ with the surface of calcite in aqueous solutions is complex. In dilute solutions the Mn²⁺ is rapidly absorbed, MnCO3₃ nucleates on the calcite surface and then grows by a first order reaction with respect to the initial Mn²⁺ concentration. At higher ionic strengths in NaCl solutions, the rate of these processes is slower, but the same general pattern persists. In solutions containing Mg²⁺, at the concentration of seawater and in seawater, the nucleation phase of the uptake process does not appear to occur. The long-term uptake rate of Mn²⁺ on the surface of calcite in seawater is first order with respect to the dissolved Mn²⁺ concentration. The rate constant is over three orders of magnitude smaller than that found in dilute Mg²⁺-free solutions. A probable explanation for the slower growth rate in seawater is that MnCO₃ is not nucleated on the calcite surface due to the presence of high Mg²⁺ concentrations. The Mg²⁺, through site competition, prevents enough Mn²⁺ from being adsorbed to reach a critical concentration for MnCO₃ nucleation. This behavior is similar to that found for orthophosphate with calcite surfaces in dilute solutions and seawater. It indicates that rhodochrosite cannot nucleate in carbonate-rich recent sediments unless the Mg²⁺ concentration is lowered below that of seawater.Measurements of the solubility of rhodochrosite in seawater gave results from an undersaturation approach to equilibrium in excellent agreement with those found in previous studies in dilute solutions. When equilibrium was approached from supersaturation, approximately fifty times more calcium was precipitated than Mn²⁺. The measured solubility was over twice that determined from undersaturation. It is possible that a Mn—calcite containing 25 to 30 mol% MnCO₃ formed on the rhodochrosite from the supersaturated solutions. Consequently, it is doubtful that pure rhodochrosite controls the concentration of Mn²⁺ even in calcium carbonate-poor marine environments.