Calcite (and Aragonite)

Carbonate Minerals
 

Chemical Calcium Carbonate: Ca(CO3), Mn, Fe, Mg and Sr may partially

Color Transparent to translucent calcite crystals are colorless, white or

Cleavage Calcite has perfect cleavage in three directions to produce

Hardness 3 (down to 2.5 on some surfaces) – easily scratched by a metal

Specific Gravity 2.7 (feels relatively light) (3.0 for aragonite)

Luster crystals are vitreous (glass-like), massive form is dull

Streak white

Misc. Properties At room temperature both minerals will easily react with dilute
acid to effervesce (bubble).
Often confused with...
Did you know...
Without calcite and aragonite many of Earth’s organisms could not exist. These are the
minerals most invertebrate organisms use to construct their shells and hard parts. So if
you have ever admired a colorful seashell, you have already paid tribute to the range of
colors calcite and aragonite come in and indirectly to the ease with which calcite and
aragonite form at the Earth’s surface.
Aragonite and calcite are ‘polymorphs’, minerals that have the same chemical
composition but slightly different crystal structures. Both minerals can occur together
and are so similar to one another that distinguishing between them is seldom important
to anyone but a professional geologist. Calcite is more stable and common than
aragonite under the chemistry of our modern seas, but at times in the Earth’s past,
aragonite was the more stable and common form. The two minerals are nearly identical
in their physical properties, so through the remainder of this website they will be treated
together under the name ‘calcite’.
Calcite forms in a range of settings from hot springs and underground caverns to
growing coral reefs and seashells. This not only reflects calcite’s abundance, but also
the ease with which it forms, dissolves, and reforms. Calcite is almost as common in our
society as it is in nature, its uses ranging from medicine and animal feed, to
Michelangelo’s ‘Pieta,’ and highway overpasses. To a remarkable degree, human
society mimics marine organisms in the sense that we rely on calcite to construct many
of the ‘hard’ parts of our society, in the form of marble, plaster, mortar, and cement.
Description and Identifying Characteristics
Calcite occurs in both crystalline and massive forms. Crystals of calcite are usually
transparent to translucent, but can exhibit a wide variety of colors if the crystal includes
minor impurities. Masses of calcite also tend to be light colored, but as with the
transparent crystals, the presence of even minor amounts of impurities can create a wide
range of colors.
Since calcite can have so many appearances, the simplest way to determine whether a
sample contains calcite is to test its reaction to a dilute acid like household vinegar.
Calcite will readily react with acid to ‘effervesce’, producing small bubbles of CO2
similar to those formed when you open a bottle of soda and pour it into a glass. Soft
enough to be easily scratched by a nail, calcite crystals can also be identified by their
rhombic cleavage. ‘Rhombic cleavage’ means that calcite crystals break along parallel
planes of weakness that meet at the same angles as a rhomb’s sides.
^ Top
Geologic Setting and Associated Minerals
Calcite most commonly occurs in sedimentary settings, particularly in shallow marine
settings as the shells and hard parts of marine organisms. It is also found in
hydrothermal veins and hot spring deposits. In sedimentary environments, calcite most
often occurs as limestone rock or as marble, which is metamorphosed limestone. In
these rocks, calcite is often the only mineral present, but in some sedimentary
environments, calcite may be associated with dolomite, gypsum, anhydrite, chert, or
halite. In hydrothermal veins, quartz and other common vein minerals such as pyrite,
dolomite, fluorite, galena, and chalcopyrite may occur with calcite.
^ Top
In Our Earth: The Geologic Importance of Calcite
All natural waters contain dissolved calcium and carbon dioxide, and their concentration
is especially high in seawater. Many marine animals including corals, snails, clams,
algae, and microscopic plankton use calcite and aragonite to form their shells and hard
parts. Microorganisms can also indirectly lead to the precipitation of calcite as they alter
the chemistry of the fluids in which they live. Once formed, calcite is easily dissolved
and its component ions released to precipitate elsewhere.
As a consequence, calcite is not only the main mineral of limestone rocks and marble
(metamorphosed limestone), but also a common accessory component of sandstone and
siltstone rocks. Calcite forms cave decorations, hot spring travertine,
and hydrothermal mineral deposits. Because it is easily precipitated and dissolved at
the Earth’s surface temperatures and pressures, calcite is one of the more common
fracture-filling vein minerals found in other rocks. Calcite even precipitates in soils,
particularly those in arid environments where calcite precipitation can form hard layers
called caliche.
^ Top
In Our Society: The Economic Importance of Calcite
The ease with which it dissolves and precipitates is the basis for many of calcite’s uses
in human society. Calcite’s name comes from ‘chalix’ or ‘chalx’, which is the Greek
word for lime (‘calx’ in Latin). For over 5,000 years, calcite has been used to
manufacture lime (CaO, calcium oxide). Although the equipment used to do this has
changed across the centuries, the basic process remains the same. Rocks rich in calcium
carbonate are heated to high temperatures so the CaCO3 will burn to form CaO and
CO2 gas. The CaO can then be recombined with water (which always holds some
dissolved CO2) to precipitate CaCO3 as plaster, mortar, and more recently as cement.
Early Roman and Greek frescos attest to the use of lime in art as well.
Although cement production accounts for the bulk of calcite used by our modern
society, large amounts are also used in the manufacture of steel and glass. Rocks
composed primarily of calcite, such as limestone and marble, are also extensively
quarried as decorative building stones and for sculpture. 
Because of the ease with which calcite reacts with even weak acids, calcite is used to
balance soil acidity, in water treatment, and as a calcium supplement in animal feed.
Calcite even has medicinal value as both a supplemental source of calcium and as an
antacid. Calcite’s ready reaction with dilute acids not only serves to identify its presence
in geological samples, but can neutralize excess stomach acids that cause discomfort!
Even the schoolroom is not devoid of calcite. In geology, ‘chalk’ is the name given to a
rock that is composed almost entirely of the calcite shells of microscopic plankton. It is
a very soft rock that, when rubbed on a surface, breaks apart to leave white streaks.
Although modern schoolroom chalk is often a mixture of anhydrite and calcite, the
original chalk for chalkboards was completely composed of the microscopic calcite
shells of marine plankton.
One variety of calcite called “Iceland Spar” is clear and colorless with remarkably clear
optical properties. Iceland spar was particularly important during World War II because
it was used for the sighting equipment of airplane bombardiers and gunners. Today,
Iceland spar calcite is still used in some optical instruments such as polarizing
microscopes.
Onyx is a term used for both a layered variety of quartz, as well as a layered variety of
calcite, so don’t be confused by the term’s double use. The layered calcite (often known
as Mexican Onyx) can be distinguished because it is softer and is easily carved into
different shapes. From 1200 to 300 B.C., the Olmec Indians of central Mexico carved
figurines from calcite onyx that were widely traded from Guatemala to Costa Rico, a
tradition that has been continued by other people to the present day.
Aragonite has almost the same uses as calcite, but with one notable addition. Mollusks
are the only family of marine organisms that tend to precipitate shells almost entirely
out of aragonite, rather than calcite or a mixture of calcite and aragonite. The iridescent
inner layer of these shells, often called mother-of-pearl, is quite beautiful and was once
widely used for buttons and decorative jewelry. Natural pearls, which form in mollusks
and are widely used in jewelry, are also composed of aragonite.
^ Top
Calcite in the Upper Midwest:
In the Upper Midwest region, calcite and dolomite are the most important minerals that
comprise the carbonate rock layers that cover the region’s southeastern extent. These
rocks are quarried for use as building stones and as gravel for road construction. Marl, a
mixture of calcite and clay minerals, forms beneath many of the state’s lakes and
wetland areas. Vein deposits of calcite occur in many regional rock units, but are
particularly common in the basalts and gabbros that form the North Shore of Lake
Superior.
Calcite and aragonite also form most of the cave decoration found in caverns present
within the carbonate rock units across the southern part of this region. In Upper
Midwest caves, calcite is the primary mineral component of cave formations such as
stalactites and stalagmites, although many of the more delicate cave features are
composed of aragonite.
On a more domestic front, calcite is the mineral that dissolves to form the ‘hard’ water
(water with high concentrations of dissolved ions) present in many Upper Midwest
communities. In homes without water softeners, calcite can precipitate from calcium-
rich groundwater to plug household plumbing or form a crust below dripping faucets.
^ Top
In Our Future: The Environmental Implications of Calcite Use
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that traps heat radiated from the Earth to warm the
Earth’s surface. Natural emissions of carbon dioxide from volcanoes and plants warm
the Earth so that it is not a frozen planet. However, as human activities increase the
levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, we run the risk of changing the Earth’s climate by
increased greenhouse warming. Although the burning of fossil fuels is the best-known
source of increased atmospheric CO2, the production of lime and concrete is another
important contributor to greenhouse warming.