KR6 Aqueous Carbonate Chemistry Workshop

Originally delivered Tuesday 28th June 2011.

Below is a link to download the lecture powerpoint file plus a structured list of the topics covered. The lecture also made use of various spreadsheets, the speciation software MIX4, and various datafiles. If you would like to obtain copies of these, please e-mail i.j.fairchild@bham.ac.uk for access to a directory where you can download them. Note that the software will only run on a 32-bit, not a 64-bit operating system.

Structure of lecture material plus practical exercises

View Powerpoint slides (PDF 1.73MB) 

1) Parameters and units in aqueous geochemistry
2) Using charge balance and electroconductivity to assess the quality of water analyses
3) Carbonate equilibria
4) Speciation model PHREEQC
5) MIX4 for modelling carbonate waters 
      a. Structure of the program and its limitations
      b. Deriving carbonate system parameters and mixing waters
      c. Carbonate mineral dissolution: closed system
      d. Carbonate mineral dissolution: open system
      e. Simulating pyrite oxidation
      f. Simulating evaporation
      g. Degassing
      h. Degassing and calcite precipitation
      i. Adding CO2 to find minimum original PCO2
6) Additional constraints on back-modelling
7) Ready-reckoners for field studies

Please refer to Chapter 5 of Speleothem Science for textbook background.