Sodium and potassium coprecipitation in aragonite

The coprecipitation of Na and K was experimentally investigated in aragonite. The distribution functions were determined at pH 6.8 and 8.8 over aqueous Na and K concentrations of between 5 × 10^?4and 2.0 M and temperatures of between 25 and 75°C.The mole fractions of Na and K in aragonite are related to the aqueous ratios of Na and Ca by a function of the form

$\text{log}\text{X}{}_{\mathrm{Na}}{}_2\text{CO}{}_3\text{,K}{}_2\text{CO}{}_3\text{= C}{}_0\text{+ C}{}_1\text{log}\text{a}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{Na}}\text{? ,K}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{a}{}_{\mathrm{Ca}}{}^{\mathrm{2+}}$

where C₀ and C₁ are constants at a given temperature. This equation was derived by a statistical model assuming a heterogeneous energy distribution for the sites of incorporation. The independence of the coprecipitation process from aqueous anion activities suggests that carbonate is the only anionic species in the solid solution.