Saturated decomposition of calcium carbonate at high pressure and implication for deep carbon cycle
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Effects of crystal structure and pressure on CaCO3 decomposition are investigated under reducing conditions.
Graphite formation out of CaCO3 is instantaneous nucleation at 2.5 GPa and 950°C.
Deep carbonate may undergo saturated decomposition under reducing conditions of the upper mantle.
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ABSTRACT
The evolution of calcium carbonate at subduction zones can significantly influence the Earth's long-term climate dynamics and planetary habitability. Here we report the effects of high pressure on carbonate decomposition kinetics for the first time. The oxygen fugacity-controlled experiments on CaCO3 were carried out at 1.0-3.0 GPa and 650-1,050 °C using a large volume cubic press. CaCO3 is stable at 1.0 GPa, 800°C and relatively reducing conditions, but it decomposes to produce graphite with increasing pressure to 2.5-3.0 GPa at high temperature. The graphite formation via carbonate decomposition was initially controlled by instantaneous nucleation with diffusion-controlled growth according to the classical Avrami model. The nano-sized graphite encapsulated residual samples and then precluded further decomposition of calcium carbonate. This result suggests the unexpected evolution of the graphitization and saturated decomposition of calcium carbonate at 2.5-3.0 GPa under relatively reducing conditions relevant to the Earth's upper mantle. -
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Hu J., Lv C., Deng A., et al. (2026). Saturated decomposition of calcium carbonate at high pressure and implication for deep carbon cycle. The Innovation Geoscience 4:100201. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2026.100201
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Hu J., Lv C., Deng A., et al. (2026). Saturated decomposition of calcium carbonate at high pressure and implication for deep carbon cycle. The Innovation Geoscience 4:100201. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-geo.2026.100201
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Figure 3.
Representative x-ray diffraction patterns of the recovered samples from high P-T experiments
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Figure 1.
Representative optical and SEM images of the samples recovered from high P-T experiments at 2.5 GPa and 950°C
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Figure 2.
Representative Raman spectra of the recovered samples from high P-T experiments
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Figure 4.
Representative weight loss curves from TGA measurements on
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Figure 5.
The evolution of decomposition fraction of calcium carbonate with time at 2.5 GPa and reducing conditions
